There is a new hashtag that is taking social media and the Internet by storm. #BoycottTarget is trending online because of a recent decision to promote inclusivity by the major department store, Target.
Target like many other businesses has come out in support of allowing people to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable using. Therefore, trans people are allowed to feel more at home in women’s or men’s restrooms depending on how they identify themselves based on gender.
It is important to note that the words: sex, gender and sexuality are not interchangeable. They mean completely different things. Gender expression is a way in which we outwardly show what gender we identify with. Gender identity is the inner feeling of belonging to a certain group, either male or female or in some cases a mixture of both. Sex is what you were anatomically given or lack thereof at birth. Sexuality usually refers to your sexual orientation, or who you are attracted to.
Make sure you’re not that one uneducated person on social media who doesn’t understand the basic differences in terminology that you are trying to claim you’re an expert on … but if you want to claim to know everything then let me be completely clear when I say that you need to delete your Facebook, stop using Google, do not dare to get your child a Happy Meal from McDonald's, sell your iPhone and any other Apple products you have, and make sure you husband isn't throwing back a six-pack of Budweiser because all of those companies are all-inclusive and scored perfectly on the Corporate Equality Index test that the Human Rights Campaign puts out every year. How did they score perfectly you may ask? Because they acknowledge and support transgender issues and have policies in place much like the one that Target just implemented. So for the love of all that is holy, be consistent.
Transgendered people have for years been feared, and misunderstood. Phrases like “men in dresses,” have perpetuated a negative image of what the trans community actually is. To understand a little bit better we should review some statistics about the Trans community, and then we can talk more about this Target situation …
I guess the best place to begin is here: Marie Claire reports there are currently 700,000 people in the United States who identify as transgendered, but it is impossible to know the exact number because some people don’t call themselves trans, they just believe they are either a woman or a man. There are over 15,000 transgendered people who are serving in the U.S. military in all branches, even though they could not be allowed to serve based on he or she being trans.
Becoming a transgendered person is more than strapping on a skirt, or putting on men’s clothing. It can take up to five years for a person to fully transition. This transition isn’t easy, it involves a lot of heartache because doctors have their own ideologies and bigotries about prescribing hormones.
The suicide rate among the trans community is way higher than that of the general population. 61 percent of Trans people have attempted suicide or thought about it while only 1.6 percent of the general population has attempted or thought about ending their life. The crime rate against the trans community is also alarmingly high, especially towards trans women of color.
The main argument used against transgendered people comes from the religious right. They use phrases that demean and demoralize trans people like, "God didn't make a mistake, they were born a man/woman." And to that I only have one reaction....no, God did not make a mistake, but anatomy/biology/science makes mistakes all of the time. If you were actually as well-versed in the subject matter as you claim to be then you would know that there are children born every day that either have no genitals, both sets of genitals, or sometimes genitals that do not fall under either category. Don't be uneducated.
Alright, so let’s go back to this Target situation. People have their panties in a wad because a transgendered woman can use the restroom in the stall next to them now. The main reason for a conservative backlash of this inclusive policy is that now it is “easier” for men to come into the bathroom and prey on women and their daughters. While there is little-to-no actual evidence that this non-discriminatory ordinance or ones like it actually lead to more sexual crime, this is still used as the main reason behind advancing legislation that is nothing but bigoted, hateful and violates the very document we base our country off of that says we are all created equal. This conservative movement to demonize transgendered people and include them in conversations concerning rapists, pedophiles and the mentally ill is so damaging, yet it is mostly coming from a religious viewpoint or stance.
Most people are probably not even familiar enough with this issue to know that this year is not the first time we have seen legislation like this being passed and lobbied for in the US. In Houston, Texas in 2015, there was a group of five ministers who began a campaign against allowing transgendered people to use the bathroom which they felt most comfortable using. It is so socially damaging to even refer to the two in the same sentence, let alone infer that one is the other. They are two totally different things. Oh, but you aren’t referring to the real transgendered people, just the ones who pretend, right? Well, let’s look at some more facts, shall we?
Transgendered people are six times more likely to be sexually assaulted than a cisgender person. A cisgender person is simply someone who identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth, and they can be straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, etc. Next, there is little-to-no evidence that these inclusive ordinances make it “easier” to attack and prey on women. In fact, there has never been an instance in which someone dressed up as a woman, claimed to be a woman to enter, and raped a woman or child in the United States. Ever. In fact, according to an article by the Huffington Post, within the last 35 years, there has only been one report of such an incident occurring in Canada. So believe it or not, most transgendered people are entering the bathroom to use it just like everyone else.
If a person wants to break the law, they will, regardless of what obstacles stand in their way. Conservatives are focused on what might happen, well a person on the road next to you might be drunk and could kill you, a person might be carrying a gun and kill you, so should we outlaw guns and alcohol based off of the argument they are presenting? I'm sure I just made a lot of people mad by saying that, but hey, that is fine by me!
So maybe Target’s policy takes away one little obstacle in the way of a pedophile, but it is proven that it doesn’t encourage violence. In fact, according to an article in Time magazine segregating bathrooms actually promotes violence against transgendered people. Over 60 percent of transgendered individuals have experienced violence or harassment when put into situations where they have to use gender-appropriate bathrooms.
So let me get this straight, no pun intended. You are fine with protecting your "right" even if it is at the expense of another person? You have over 15,000 trans men and women fighting to protect your freedoms, yet you seek to demolish and limit theirs? Could you be any more of a hypocrite? For example, let's take this trans woman below and let's see how you think it would end for her if you made her use a men's bathroom ...
Yeah, I think we can all agree that she would not be greeted very kindly if she were forced to use a men's room. Yet, you think that it is totally acceptable to put her at risk.
So back to this whole hashtag thing. Instead of using #BoycottTarget I encourage you to use a different hashtag instead. #BoycottBigotry not only helps perpetuate that the information being disseminated is wrong, and it is hurtful, but that it has no place in a country like the United States.
Below I am going to show you a picture of a similar moment in American history where we decided we knew what was best for everyone. A time period where we classified and categorized people based off of very shallow and skin-deep characteristics. It is up to you to decide if you would like to see us going back to this kind of America, or if we are lightyears ahead of where our grandparents or maybe even our parents were.
This, is not where we need to be headed. These new laws enacted to separate and categorize people are very reminiscent of a time where we saw much pain and suffering.
If you choose to boycott Target, all I ask is that you boycott every other company that has the same policy. Once you realize just how silly that idea is, and I hope you will want to learn more about the transgendered community and how you as a parent can best teach your children about other types of people and how to peacefully and lovingly coexist with them. I urge you to educate yourself.
If you have made it all the way to the bottom of this ... thank you for letting me vent. Thank you for allowing me to express my opinions on this issue. If at least one mind has been changed, or at least one thought was provoked, then I have done my job to seek to bring about social justice and change. Let's build an America where we are all included, where we are all accepted and where we can flourish in our own aspects of life.
