'Member back when Murphy Brown had a kid out of wedlock? And the cultural discussion was varying shades of "what a dumb thing for Dan Quayle to go to the mattresses over" and "but the value of the family should not be diminished?" The conversation was mostly about "well obviously there are single parents in the world but do we want our culture to acknowledge that."

Then Ellen DeGeneres kissed a girl on TV and mostly, the conversation was "it's about damn time" while the conservative movement basically toed the line at "marriage is between a man and a woman" and "love the sinner hate the sin."

Then we had Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and pretty much every secondary bitchy gay character on every reality TV show ever and slowly but surely, being gay wasn't weird, it just meant you couldn't get married.

But that ship has sailed.

We've got two entire shows - RuPaul's Drag Race and TransParent - dedicated to transgender people. I got a checker at my local grocery store who wears a skirt and makeup sometimes - just often enough to keep you guessing and make you sort of uncomfortable with whether they're "he" or "she" today. But I think we're to the point where most people will publicly acknowledge that the person wearing/not wearing the skirt is bridging a void of discomfort far deeper than the people observing.

The conversation we're having now is "does walking around in women's clothing make you a criminal." Except we can't even have that conversation because by making it about the bathrooms, it's become "do we want to shame perverts by making them use bathrooms in such a way to make everyone uncomfortable." Which for most of us becomes "this is a really awkward and uncomfortable conversation - why are we even having it?"

Someone has to not just be against "transgender rights" - they have to be vocally against transgender rights in such a way that it's difficult to not look like a knuckle-dragging throwback. Because really, "where do they tinkle" is the only place this battle can happen - they can already vote, they can already marry, they can already serve in the military, they can already enjoy full citizenship in every way shape or form, the only legislative question left is "where to pee."

Sure, there's a whole bunch of cultural warfare left but from a "rights" standpoint, the bathroom is all there is.

It's gonna be a rare conservative that chooses to die on that particular hill.