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SURPRISE! Tito Ortiz’ partner Amber Nichole Miller Is Transphobic!
Transgender identities (and the accompanying reactionary hysteria) may seem like a new phenomenon, but that isn’t the case. Although the term ‘transgender’ was not used until 1971, trans people have existed throughout United States history, and before that, in many of North America’s Indigenous cultures. The legal battles surrounding diverse gender expression aren’t new either: from New York’s “Three-Article Rule” to California’s “Walking While Trans” law, white hegemony has always weaponized the legal system against those who cannot (or refuse to) conform to rigid expectations of gender and sexuality.
Because many state legislatures are currently debating or voting on legislation to restrict the bodily autonomy and personhood of their trans constituents, the subject is “trending” across social media platforms. And as we know from Vice News’ reporting, Amber Nichole Miller (QAnon influencer, charity grifter, and WAG of Tito Ortiz) often chooses to post about online trends in order to gain followers and expand her influence on Instagram.
On Monday, March 8 at 4pm, Miller started an Instagram Live to discuss “Transgender [sic] in Girls [sic] Bathroom,” joined in conversation by the very few of her right-wing mommy-blogger friends whose accounts haven’t yet been banned from the platform’s livestream feature. Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Ortiz did not appear in his girlfriend’s video, and has not publicly commented on or promoted it. However, just two hours after the end of the livestream, he posted a transphobic image to his Instagram story:
According to a new Gallup poll, an increasing number of Americans are identifying as LGBTQ, and this hatred and intolerance of trans people will inevitably harm members of our Huntington Beach community. Today, I’m fact-checking Amber Nichole Miller, and I’d like to start with the one thing she got absolutely right: we really do need to talk about this!
For the uninitiated, a glossary of basic terms:
Cisgender (or cis): an adjective describing someone whose gender identity matches the one they were assigned at birth.
Transgender (or trans): an adjective describing someone whose gender identity does not match the one they were assigned at birth.
Gender non-conforming: an adjective describing someone whose physical appearance (clothing, hair, etc.) is not stereotypically masculine or feminine.
Pronoun: a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase and that refers either to the participants in the discourse, or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse– everyone uses pronouns, and there is a wide variety from which to choose!
The quote Amber reads in this clip is from a 2016 Facebook post by transgender activist and artist Alok Vaid-Menon (they/them pronouns), who has since deleted it and apologized. The comments faded from public consciousness for a while, but have continued to resurface with every new “bathroom bill.” There is one specific image making the rounds on the internet this week: the quote typeset on a photograph of Alok.
This would be absolutely appalling… if Alok had actually said this the way it appears here. I hunted down the full post, and laid it side by side with the pull quote from the popular image. (Click image to view easier-to-read PDF.)
It looks a lot different in context, doesn’t it? They’re not trying to say it’s unnecessary to protect little girls– their point is that a culture who assumes all little girls to be completely pure and all trans people to be “freaky” wrongdoers is inherently toxic and unfair to both groups; and that ‘little girls’ and ‘trans people’ are not mutually exclusive labels.
There are three main talking points that come up during conversations about trans women using women’s restrooms:
- Protections for trans women would inspire sexually predatory men to put on dresses and corner women and little girls in restrooms.
- Personal discomfort with the idea of using the same restroom as a “man in a dress” because of [religious belief, past trauma, etcetera].
- Unwillingness, or uncertainty about how to explain gender diversity to a child.
All three of these talking points are based on the faulty assumption that it is obvious who is cisgender and who is transgender; in reality, gender expression is more complicated than that. Over the last several years, many cis women have come forward with heartbreaking accounts of being harassed– and even injured — when they tried to use a restroom, because they were wearing “boyish” clothing, or had their hair cut short.
Let’s play a game: look at the following images, and tell me with absolute certainty who is a cis woman and who is not. (Click for larger image!)
As you can see, the only readily apparent difference between Amber Nichole Miller and these three fishy drag queens (from top to bottom: Farrah Moan, Courtney Act, and Trinity the Tuck) is the drag queens have better hair and make-up– and yes, that is shade. Despite their constant vigilance, it’s incredibly likely that Amber and her friend Cece have shared a bathroom with a trans woman without even realizing it.
“Bathroom bills” are an attempt to solve a problem that does not exist– the grand majority of pedophiles and child molesters don’t find their victims in public restrooms. According to the Crimes Against Children Research Center, studies have shown most sex crimes are committed by people who know their victims, and children who experience poverty and other forms of abuse are at a higher risk.
If Amber was truly committed to ending the sexual abuse of children, she would support policies like Medicare for All and raising the federal minimum wage, which would do a lot to eliminate the risk factor of child poverty. She will never be an effective advocate for children because she continues to support the austere policies of the GOP.
The California Healthy Youth Act updated the standards for sexual education curriculum in California’s public schools, and created an uproar among conservatives. One outspoken critic is the notorious Gracey Van Der Mark, whose Facebook group “Informed Parents of Orange County” is Amber’s main source of disinformation.
Though the state can decide on basic standards, the official curriculum of any given school district is decided by its board. In Ocean View School District, in which Amber’s step-children attend school, parents are allowed to look over the sex ed curriculum before their child participates in class. If you haven’t seen their (archaic) curriculum, you can read it here — I hope you’re not disappointed by the absence of sex positions. [OR “Blood Rituals!” – Ed.]
The text of the CHYA is actually fairly innocuous, and makes a point of 1) specifying that coursework should be age-appropriate, and 2) establishing an “opt-out” process for parents. If Tito Ortiz wanted to excuse his children from sex ed, he would be more than welcome to do so, and their grades would not be negatively impacted.
Reading the state’s recommended curriculum for grades 7-12, you would think an anti-human trafficking “activist” like Amber would be overjoyed– check out this requirement:
(10) Information about sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and human trafficking. Information on human trafficking shall include both of the following:
(A) Information on the prevalence, nature, and strategies to reduce the risk of human trafficking, techniques to set healthy boundaries, and how to safely seek assistance.
(B) Information on how social media and mobile device applications are used for human trafficking.
The accusation that teachers are “grooming” your children by teaching to these standards is clearly a slanderous lie. But Amber hasn’t actually read the CHYA, has she? She’s only heard about it from charter school propagandists, who use the genuine concern of parents as a tool for dismantling our public school system, so they can pocket tax money intended for the education of our children. And, very occasionally, so they can overthrow foreign governments!
Most kids begin to understand the concept of gender around the time they’re two years old, and are able to express their own gender identity around age three– elementary school students are perfectly capable of both understanding gender diversity and identifying as trans. On the subject of trans people, the state has only this to say: “Instruction and materials shall teach pupils about gender, gender expression, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes.”
“When you force someone to accept like that, it doesn’t work!” Uh, okay, Amber, I guess you must’ve failed U.S. History.
We were all “forced to accept” school integration by a Supreme Court case that originated right here in Orange County: Mendez v. Westminster. One NORC poll asked white Americans, “Do you think white students and Negro/black students should go to the same schools or to separate schools?” In April 1956, only 49% of respondents said white and Black students should go to the same schools– but by June 1965, just 11 years after Brown v. Board of Education, that number had increased to 67%.
Complaining about children’s cartoons “forcing” acceptance of LGBTQ people is hilarious when you remember that President Eisenhower sent the National Guard to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. We’ve had literal military intervention to “force someone to accept,” AND IT ACTUALLY WORKED. But please, continue to go off about the fucking Pride Flags on Blues Clues.
A few other miscellaneous claims that need fact-checking:
1. Amber spent a lot of time talking about a 50-year-old transgender woman playing on a basketball team with 12- and 13-year-old girls. That claim is false: the woman in question is Gabrielle Ludwig, a player on a community college team in Northern California who invited the sixth-grade team she coaches to watch her play.
2. Amber compared gender fluidity to age fluidity, a claim that has caused outrage in the trans community. “Age-fluid” isn’t a legitimate identity, it’s a 4chan troll campaign from 2017. There was one Dutch man who tried to legally change his age, but he was laughed out of court– and I think it’s worth noting that he was a fan of Donald Trump.
3. SB 145 came up a lot– Amber seems to think that California legalized pedophilia and said she personally read the law. She obviously didn’t, because all her claims are false. SB 145 does not legalize sex with a minor, but equalizes penalties for heterosexual and LGBTQ offenders.
At one point during the talk, Miller specifically requested that those who disagree should join her live stream and speak to her, promising an open, honest, and friendly conversation. In my opinion, that’s the biggest lie she told in her entire hour-long video.
OMG, who the fuck cares what picture is on the outside of the bathroom as long as there’s no line and I can pee.
People named Dana can go anywhere.
Except back to Congress….