Trump’s Army Secretary nominee: Anti-trans bathroom laws are designed to ‘crush evil’

President Trump’s pick for Army Secretary apparently doesn’t like transgender people, so much so that he feels he needs to “crush” the “evil” he thinks they represent.

Sen. Mark Green (R-TN) could be the next person to oversee a military that’s been entirely integrated. In June, the Pentagon ended its ban in trans people serving openly in the military, which is in stark contrast to Green’s contention that keeping trans people out of the bathrooms they identify with is a safety precaution for women.

“There are 300,000 rapes in the United States every year,” Green said during a radio program appearance back in June. “Three hundred thousand women who are sexually assaulted by predators. We know this. It’s documented. It’s factual. To think that some young guy isn’t going to take advantage of the system where we’re going to allow guys to go into the bathroom ― the women’s bathroom ― to think that it’s not going to happen is just ridiculous.”

From The Huffington Post:

The need to protect women from sexual predators is a common conservative argument against inclusive bathroom policies. But it’s also a red herring. It’s already illegal for men to sexually assault women, whether it takes place in a bathroom or some other place. Nothing would change in that regard. And leading organizations dedicated to fighting sexual assault say they support transgender equal access.

States and localities that have implemented transgender-inclusive restroom policies have also said they have not seen an increase in rape and assault because of these laws.

But aside from the ‘protecting women’ fallacy, Green’s reasoning is also rooted in the Bible (of course). On the same radio program, he cited Romans 13 and argued that bathroom laws, like Muslim bans, are examples of “authority” that people should submit themselves to whether they agree or not:

“[Basically] if you’re in the government, you should do what the government tells you to do. You know, don’t speed, all that kind of stuff. Obey the laws is basically what the passage says. But what it goes on to say is that because the government exists for two purposes,” Green said.

“The government exists to honor those people who live honorably, who do good things – to reward people who behave well and to crush evil. So that means as a state senator, my responsibility very clearly in Romans 13 is to create an environment where people who do right are rewarded and the people who do wrong are crushed. Evil is crushed,” he continued. “So I’m going to protect women in their bathrooms, and I’m going to protect our state against potential infiltration from the Syrian ISIS people in the refugee program. And whoever wants to stand up and take me on that, I’m ready to fight.”

But Green’s bigoted views towards trans people don’t end there. According to HuffPo, he told a Tea Party gathering in September that he thinks transgenderism is a “disease,” a notion that’s been roundly debunked by science.

Featured image via American Military Times. To follow Sky Palma on Facebook, click here

 

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.