PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT. Our own Aeronmelon is going through some shit at the moment and could use some help. Check it out here and consider an upvote or a comment to push it into activity. Sorry, not something I do often or will be spamming. But I care about my friend and if I can get a couple more eyes on his situation then I'm going to try to do what I can. (Last one I promise. Just twice. Not going to spam but dude is a big part of the Lemmy community, especially with Trek, and he deserves the help. And to the mods, if this doesn't fit and you want to remove? Go for it. I completely understand it and I am sorry)
Edit: Oh wait I'm the mod here. Well, I say it is fine
I think you're putting the cart before the horse.
If a state wants to punish trans people, they'll find a law. Increasing penalties against actual predators is a separate issue.
That does not invalidate the point made in the post though. They're two different discussions.
[off topic?]
Crime writer Karin slaughter is very familiar with the criminal justice system.
In one of her novels, a character points out that pedophiles are endangered in prison by the other inmates. This isn't because most prisoners are moral and hate people who prey on the weak; it's because many of the prisoners were sexually abused in childhood and want payback.
This post is about you
The laws were/are related to sexual misconduct and decency. It's easier to believe being gay or trans is sexually deviant than it is to just say "It's wrong." Not even 40 years ago, California almost passed restrictions on gay men and women working with children. Sodomy is still illegal in some places, filed under sex crimes.
To punish the guilty more harshly without hurting the innocent would require
"Oh it's just the actual predators" "it's just the criminal illegals" "it's just used against terrorist"
No it's never "just" X.
The justice system is made up of people. People make mistakes. People have opinions. Some people are corrupt. People can be fooled. People can be influenced.
This is why it's important to have principles and just laws and basic human rights for everyone.
You see an "actual predator", perhaps it's just a person framed for political beliefs. It's better just to treat everyone fairly. Fair trials and a way to fight unfair sentences.
The context was amongst prison abolitionists, so there wouldn't be another law to punish them under, unless you leave certain things as still crimes.