Stephen Colbert has a simple message for politicians hell-bent on barring transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity: "To all those lawmakers out there who are so obsessed with who's using what bathroom and what plumbing they got downtown, newsflash: You're the weirdos."
Speaking about North Carolina's anti-LGBTQ law, which regulates bathroom use in schools and government buildings, Colbert said he never wants to think about who's in a public bathroom with him.
"I don't care if you're male or female, what sex or gender identity someone is," Colbert said. "I — and I mean this sincerely — do not want to share a bathroom with anyone. For two reasons: number one and number two."
Colbert added, "When I am forced to use a public bathroom — which is infrequently, thank God — I go in there with blinders on. I don't know who's next to me. It could be a centaur next to me for all I know. I don't even like to look at myself in the mirror afterwards. I know what I did. I'm there for a surgical strike — get in, get out, minimal casualties."
It's funny, but Colbert's jokes make a sharp point: Public bathrooms are awkward as it is. There's no reason for lawmakers to make the situation even more uncomfortable for transgender people. And obsessing about the whole thing — to the point you're writing laws about it and making it an election issue — is weird.
