Whatever Happened to Small Government Conservatives?

I recently came upon this on the AP:

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina General Assembly is returning Wednesday to take up legislation that would attempt to override Charlotte’s nondiscrimination ordinance that allows transgender people to use restrooms that align with their gender identity.

Legislative leaders announced Monday night the decision to reconvene a little over a week before the ordinance gets implemented April 1. They say three-fifths of the House and Senate members made the necessary written requests for the House speaker and lieutenant governor to call them back.

So here’s a question. What exactly does it mean to be a conservative? Conservatives typically claim that they are all about freedom and responsibility and limited government. Except when they aren’t, of course. And there are about three million examples of this. In the North Carolina case mentioned here, conservative state legislators are aiming to override a decision made by the city of Charlotte, contradicting conservative rhetoric about local control.

What is small, limited government anyway? One would think that a small government wouldn’t see any need for a state government to create laws about public restrooms. One would think that they would leave that to be determined by individuals, or local governments. And what exactly does restoring “local control” mean? Conservatives often talk about the importance of decisions being made at the local level while acting quickly to override these decisions the moment they disagree with them morally.

Guess what? In the two days since I came upon that link, this has happened:

The North Carolina House voted 83-25 to pass a sweeping bill on Wednesday that would negate all local LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances in the state and ban transgender people from certain restrooms.

Very local control. Much small government.

House Bill 2 mandates that state law supersedes all local ordinances concerning wages, employment, and public accommodations. It would also restrict single-sex public restrooms and locker rooms in publicly run facilities to people of the same sex on their birth certificate.

Further, it would would ban transgender students from school restrooms that correspond with their gender identity . . .

As someone who lives in a progressive area in the middle of an otherwise conservative state—though not North Carolina—this is maddening. My daughter goes to a local elementary student. If we had this law here—and we don’t—a transgender child at her school would not be allowed to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. I cannot imagine the level of shame involved in blocking a child from the bathroom that matches their gender identity—and, presumably, their gender presentation. And now, thanks to this law, local schools and school districts will have utterly no say in these decisions.

This isn’t small government. Not even close.

I actually don’t think you can pair a small government with the social policies conservatives push. You can’t have a small government that dictates who can use what restroom. You can’t have a small government that prosecutes women who have miscarriages. You can’t have a small government that uproots and deports eleven million people, men, women, and children. You can’t have a small government that bans local school employees from using the word “gay.” These things are not things small governments do.

Conservatives’ use of small government rhetoric appears to be incredibly selective. They want the government to end welfare and other programs designed to help the poor, but they also want the government to tell people what they can and cannot do in their own bedrooms. Part of the problem, of course, is that conservatives are in some sense a coalition of different groups with agendas that sometimes differ. But even though social conservatives, specifically, don’t want a small government when it comes to things they consider moral issues, they still use that rhetoric when speaking of things like welfare.

The Republicans are not the party of small, limited government. Sure, there may be some Republicans who actually believe in small, limited government, but in states like North Carolina they’re clearly marginalized by those who apply the principal only selectively, preferring a big, invasive government when it suits them. In North Carolina this week, the transgender community is suffering the consequences of this of this selectivity.

This political season, let’s remember that we’re not looking at one party that supports small government and one party that supports big government, whatever conservatives may argue. Instead, we’re looking at two parties that both want an activist government and simply disagree on what that government should be doing. One party wants the government to go further to cover people’s healthcare costs; the other wants the government to require birth certificate checks at the entrances of public restrooms. Take that to the ballot box.