Both: What do you think about the arrest in the Wi Spa transgender incident?

submitted by worried19 from self.GCdebatesQT

An arrest was quietly made stemming from the Wi Spa transgender incident in June.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/02/charges-filed-against-sex-offender-in-wi-spa-casecharges-filed-against-sex-offender-in-notorious-wi-spa-incident

But on Monday, charges of indecent exposure were discreetly filed against a serial sex offender for the Wi Spa incident, following an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sources with knowledge of the case but not authorized to speak publicly say four women and a minor girl came forward to allege that Darren Agee Merager was partially erect in the women’s section of Wi Spa. Besides being a suspect in this case, Merager is facing multiple felony charges of indecent exposure over a separate incident in Los Angeles.

Law-enforcement sources revealed that Merager is a tier-one registered sex offender with two prior convictions of indecent exposure stemming from incidents in 2002 and 2003 in California. She declined to comment on the convictions. In 2008, she was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender.

A law passed by California Democrats that went into effect this year replaced the state’s lifetime registration requirement to a tiered system. The law allows lower-tiered sex offenders to petition to be removed from the list. However, Merager is not eligible due to ongoing criminal charges. She also has a long criminal history in California that includes nearly a dozen felony convictions for crimes ranging from sex offenses to burglary and escape.

In addition to Merager’s new felony charges of indecent exposure, she is also facing six felony counts of indecent exposure over a separate locker room incident in December 2018. Los Angeles County prosecutors accuse Merager of indecent exposure to women and children in a changing area at a swimming pool in West Hollywood Park.

“Merager claims to identify as female so he can access women’s locker rooms and showers,” reads an internal flyer by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that was sent to law enforcement departments in southern California in late 2018. Merager has pleaded not guilty to all six counts and her next court date for the incident is on Sept. 8. Merager told law enforcement she’s transient but bail was set at $150,000 in early 2019, which was paid.

Our thread from the initial incident:

https://saidit.net/s/GCdebatesQT/comments/82dn/both_what_do_you_think_about_the_transgender

What do you think of this new development? Does anyone here believe Merager's claims of being unfairly targeted?

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[–]VioletRemihomosexual female (aka - lesbian) 21 insightful - 4 fun21 insightful - 3 fun22 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

Sex offender, who lied multiple times before and was flashing genitals to women and girls 20 years ago, and now "miraclously" adopted "I am trans" narrative to get access to spaces where he can flash his half-errected penis to 6 and 9 years old girls? B-but they said this will never happen! That liers would never lie and abusers would not abuse.

I am surprised that there are people who are surprised on this accident happening and being like this.

Also, makes those antifa who harassed women protesting there to look even worse than they already did.

[–]censorshipment 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

A sex offender cannot be unfairly targeted. Creepy vibes can fill a room... we feel it when someone doesn't belong. We can sense male perversion.

[–]worried19[S] 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

Not remotely surprised. I knew right away this must have been a bad actor. An actual old-school transsexual with genital dysphoria would never be parading around fully nude in the women's section of a spa. At best, it was going to be someone oblivious and entitled with no dysphoria, and at worst it was going to be a sex offender. I'm definitely not shocked it is a sex offender, nor do I think it's possible to prevent people like Merager from taking advantage of self ID.

What really bothers me is the number of people who attacked the women and girls who were the victims of this incident, going so far as to claim that the whole incident was a transphobic hoax made up for the cameras. Others claimed they were unfairly persecuting some unsuspecting trans woman. I wonder how many of those people, including journalists at magazines like Slate, will even bother to print a retraction. Maybe they'll even double down and insist the person with a long history of sex offenses is innocent after all. That wouldn't surprise me. More likely they'll just ignore it and hope the public forgets. They don't seem to want to acknowledge anything that goes against their narrative.

[–]MarkTwainiac 12 insightful - 2 fun12 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

An actual old-school transsexual with genital dysphoria would never be parading around fully nude in the women's section of a spa.

Please worried19 provide proof of all these "actual old-school transsexual" male people "with genital dysphoria" you are constantly going to bat for and from whose case histories you've constructed your composite - and IMO apocryphal - ideal "old school" trans-identified male. You constantly depict these guys as near saints who had/have not a malevolent bone in their bodies and wouldn't hurt a fly, not even to express their "gender identity" and sexuality in a way meant to outrage women, especially women of middle age or after.

Please share concrete info about who these persons are/were, when were they born, what country they came from and/or they lived in, and what proof you have that they had "genital dysphoria" so intense it insured that they would never engage in exhibitionist or other sexually inappropriate behavior meant to unnerve and distress female people.

[–]worried19[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I mean people like peaking and Fleurista and Barbie. True, I am relying on their own reports, but I trust them. They're not the sum total of trans women, I know that, but I do believe transsexuals like this still exist in significant numbers.

[–]MarkTwainiac 8 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Then please phrase your statements to show that you are speaking about a small number of individuals whom you personally know, or think you know. Instead of making sweeping pronouncements generalizing about a vast community based on your faith-based belief that there's an exemplar "old-school transsexual" figure who can do no wrong and is representative of the "transsexuals" you have decided "still exist in significant numbers."

[–]worried19[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I was specifically referring only to "old-school transsexuals with genital dysphoria." The rest are either trenders or fetishists.

[–][deleted] 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

What really bothers me is the number of people who attacked the women and girls who were the victims of this incident, going so far as to claim that the whole incident was a transphobic hoax made up for the cameras. Others claimed they were unfairly persecuting some unsuspecting trans woman

Same!! I'm so angry about that. POS sex offenders and predators hiding behind these laws makes my blood boil enough, but everyone just launching into 'save the whales transgenders' mindsets instead and being willfully ignorant of the actions of people like that drives me fucking crazy.

And I hate that you're almost certainly right about the media avoiding mentioning this development. It's so depressing.

[–]soundsituationpurrgender 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Wikipedia claims that the Proud Boys and QAnon were at the protest, while saying that Antifa's presence is "disputed", lol. Normally I think complaints of wikipedia's bias are exaggerated, but this is ridiculous.

[–]worried19[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I thought for sure Slate would ignore it, but apparently not. Evan Urquhart was throwing a fit about having to print a retraction:

https://twitter.com/e_urq/status/1433537047931797514

But ended up limiting their Twitter after receiving negative feedback. I'm guessing if it were up to Urquhart, no changes would be made at all.

[–]worried19[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The tweets before they were deleted:

https://www.lipstickalley.com/attachments/1630617438024-png.2859840

[–]FlippyKingSadly this sub welcomes rape apologists and victim blaming. Bye! 10 insightful - 2 fun10 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I think there are at least three questions. How can an unprovable "identity", that only requires a claim of such an identity be made, be tested in court? If the court must accept the idea that there is a gendered identity and that laws protect those who claim to have it, what does this do about the long-standing sex-based rights based on the material reality that is our two and only two sexes where one's capability of getting pregnant remains a source of oppression and relative unfairness towards them in society? Is the class of person recognized as women due to their reproductive capacity protected and allowed bodily autonomy and privacy from the other class of person recognized as men due to their reproductive functionality and are those protections mitigated by an unprovable claim of a gendered identity?

I'm of the opinion that the pervert is guilty, depending it being the right person in question and that they did what was said. He is probably a liar in addition to being a pervert. I would like for them to all just stop lying, and maybe eventually that will lead to those lying to themselves about all this nonsense to stop lying to themselves about all this nonsense.

[–]HouseplantWomen who disagree with QT are a different sex 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

“This never happens!!”

[–]FlanJam 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Glad they caught the creep, I wonder how things will play out in court, and what it means for self-id laws moving forward.

The reaction from QT writers and activists who were defending this incident is disappointing but not surprising. They should be ashamed.

[–]theory_of_thisan actual straight crossdresser 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

Do we know if they'd taken hormones?

[–]HouseplantWomen who disagree with QT are a different sex 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Would it matter if they had?

[–]theory_of_thisan actual straight crossdresser 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

I'm interested to know if there are any behaviour patterns.

[–]HouseplantWomen who disagree with QT are a different sex 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Like if hormone treatment makes them more or less likely to offend? Why would it?

[–]theory_of_thisan actual straight crossdresser 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

I think hormones do affect sexual behaviour. I'm also interested to see if they took hormones or only identified as trans.

[–]FlippyKingSadly this sub welcomes rape apologists and victim blaming. Bye! 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

There seems to be two different standards in play here. We are told to accept at face value the claim made when someone makes a claim of a gendered identity and to allow that claim to override any possible observable sex characteristics and the categories of man and woman that stem from those. But here, the only thing we know is a woman (possibly two if you listen to the background voices in the famous wi spa video) complains about a naked MAN in the women's (and not the co-ed) area. Any mention of transgender comes from people trying to rationalize or excuse but who were not there, be it the "willie-woke-bro" in the video or everyone rationalizing it since. In the video when the idea that this was a trans person is raise the woman shoots the idea down, but it is always presented not as a fact but as an idea or possibility or rationalization. The woman behind the counter receiving the complaint does not say "yes, we know of that individual but that person in fact identifies as a woman and we can assure you that in spite of the fact that we are a sexual reproducing and sexual dimorphohic species where the males called men are physically distinct from females called women this person identifies as a women based on some other criteria."

Why is her claims, now seemingly the claims of 3 women and one girl, not taken at face value? Even if the alleged perpetrator is named in the legal action, up until now it was all speculation to rationalize the dismissing of the woman's complaint. Even if the lawyer for the alleged perpetrator now says "this person is a woman according to criteria having nothing to do with the reality that our species reproduces sexually through the intercourse of the two and only two sexes" that still is not the alleged perpetrator saying it nor is it the alleged perpetrator saying it before the incident happened.

My gripe is that up until the alleged perpetrator was accurately identified, we only had two sides: the complainant, and people making up excuses to ignore her.

[–]worried19[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't think we know. There are only two pictures online, no video.