Trans activists slam ‘hateful’ conservative video in which man ‘dresses up’ as ‘a transgender’

A trans activist group blasted the Media Research Center's (MRC) video objecting to California's new trans-inclusive legislation in an interview with The Raw Story on Monday.

"That video is just a hateful embarassment," National Center for Transgender Equality executive director Mara Keisling said. "[The people at MRC] know that there are real trans people. They know we're not talking about boys who want to pretend that they're girls or girls who want to pretend they're boys. They know we're talking about people who have a gender identity that want to safely use the restroom in a way that is least disruptive."

As MediaMatters reported on Monday, the video by the MRC, a conservative group, shows reporter Dan Joseph approaching a woman outside a womens' locker room and identifying himself as "a transgender."

"That means I have the man parts but inside I feel more like a woman," Joseph tells the woman. "I was just wondering, is it okay if I go in there with you in there and change and shower and stuff? Just because I don't really feel, like, comfortable in the men's area. It's just weird. Is that okay with you?" The woman's response is not shown.

The video also shows an edited montage of interviews conducted by Joseph at an unidentified college campus in Virginia, a completely unrelated setting to the new Califonia law, which allows K-12 students to use school facilities and play on athletic teams according to their gender identity.

The bill was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on August 12, 2013, to the consternation of conservative media outlets.

"I remember high school -- kids get away with a lot of bad stuff," one respondent tells Joseph in the video. "A lot of kids nowadays would probably take advantage of rules like that."

"Right. You mean like, a guy who just wants to see some naked chicks [saying], 'Oh, I'm transgendered, [sic] I need to go to the girls' locker room,'" Joseph responds, before admitting, "I mean, that's what I would do."

Keisling told The Raw Story videos like Joseph's do not advance anything useful in discussing how to help trans students.

"All it does is villainize a group of kids who have it really rough, and who the state of California's just trying to make it a little easier on," she said. "This doesn't put anybody else out. It's really easy to scare people about it, and I get it, but nobody's put out, nobody's made unsafe, nobody's made unmodest. This is just sad and kind of sick."

Watch Joseph's "report," posted Thursday on YouTube, below.