NEEDS MORE TRAINING

Wisconsin Official Derails Diversity Talk With Absurd Transphobic Outburst

A county board official struggled to grasp the purpose of the diversity, equity, and inclusion seminar.

An official on the Outgamie County Board in northeast Wisconsin struggled to grasp the purpose of a diversity, equity, and inclusion seminar this week, instead sounding off with baseless claims about transgender people. After the talk, which reportedly did not touch on “trans-inclusive bathrooms,” board member Timothy Hermes took the opportunity to assert that transgender people are nothing more than men pretending to be women, adding, without the assistance of evidence, that they are malevolently sneaking into women’s restrooms. In fact, as local outlet The Post-Crescent noted, “there is no statistical evidence that people are dressing as the opposite gender to sneak into bathrooms,” according to multiple advocacy groups.