Like anti-abortion legislation, bathroom bills rely on the construction of an immoral—indeed, reprehensible—figure. In the case of abortion, it is a heartless cisgender woman, intent on killing her “unborn child”; in the case of bathroom bills, it is a predatory trans woman—or, alternatively, a cis man merely pretending to be a trans woman in order to gain restroom access. And like anti-abortion legislation, bathroom bills also rely on the construction of a notional victim. In the case of abortion, it is a heart-wrenchingly vulnerable fetus, who might also grow up to be the next Einstein; in
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