Cartoon: Think of the Children!

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This cartoon was written and colored by Barry Deutsch, and drawn by Becky Hawkins.

Transcript

Panel 1
CAPTION: 1940
A man in a suit and hat is speaking loudly to a crowd of people watching him. He is holding out a book called “The Talmud Unmasked.”
MAN: We can’t allow Jews in our club! They’re perverts and deviants! Think of the children!

Panel 2
CAPTION: 1960
A woman and man stand in front of a suburban home. Behind them, on the lawn, two adorable children are playing catch. The man has his arm around the woman’s shoulder, and the woman is holding a baby in her arms.
WOMAN: Blacks integrating into our neighborhood? No! Think of the children!

Panel 3
CAPTION: 1980
Several protesters are marching in front of a school building. One protester, a woman holding a child (who is struggling to get away) with one arm and a sign saying “FIRE HER!” with the other hand, is speaking.
WOMAN: A lesbian can’t be a teacher! Think of the children!

Panel 4
A man in a suit stands on the steps of what looks like a government building. Many reporters are holding out microphones to record what he’s saying. He has a small girl with him, patting her on the head with one hand while pointing at her with the other.
MAN: We need to keep transsexuals out of public bathrooms! Think of the children!

Kicker panel.
The small girl has turned to face the man with the suit. He speaks to her sternly, holding up an admonishing finger.
GIRL: But I’m trans.
MAN: Don’t confuse me!

This entry was posted in Cartooning & comics, Homophobic zaniness/more LGBTQ issues, Transsexual and Transgender related issues. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Cartoon: Think of the Children!

  1. nobody.really says:

    Nice! It’s so hard to convey perspective (not in the illustration sense; in the perspective-with-the-wisdom-of-history sense). Amp does it in four panels.

    Ok, it’s no “sock-puppet”–but it gets a complex idea across cleanly.

  2. Ell says:

    A bit strawmannish or? No strawmen? Some? Dunno.

    Kind of focused, I guess.

    I don’t really meet all these extreme bigots (“the big enemy”) in real life. Most people are just trying to get through life. I guess they exist somewhere.

  3. Charles says:

    Ell,

    I’m curious if you are aware of the anti-trans ‘bathroom bills’ and who you think advocates for those and passes them? Is the majority in the legislature of North Carolina made of straw?

    Near where RonF lives in Chicago, when black people bought houses in the suburbs in the 1950s and 60s, there were riots and houses were firebombed and demolished to keep black people out. Those weren’t isolated incidents. Were those bombs set by people made of straw? Were those mobs just a bunch of scarecrows?

    Each of the exclusions in the cartoon actually happened. That you don’t know or care is not evidence that they didn’t. That most people never stand up publicly at rallies to declare their hatred for the enemy of the decade doesn’t mean that enough people do exactly what the cartoon depicts in order to keep people from an oppressed minority out.

    You know who else besides white, cis, het Christians just want to live their lives? Trans people, who just want to use the bathroom while they are at work or at a restaurant, lesbians who just want to work as school teachers, black people who would just like to buy a house in the suburbs, Jews who would just like to have a swimming pool for their kids and a social network. Everybody being excluded in these pictures just wants to live their lives. Meanwhile, the people actually doing the excluding in the real world, cruelly and sometimes violently? They actually exist and are not made of straw.

  4. Kate says:

    Beautifully said, Charles @3.

  5. Grace Annam says:

    Thank you, Charles.

    Grace

  6. Charles S says:

    Kate, Thanks! and Grace, you are welcome!

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