For many of us, trying to decide which bathroom to use is pretty simple, we've been using the same one all our lives. For others, like members of the transgender community and other aspects of LGBT+, that decision could be one that puts you at serious risk for physical violence and sexual assault. It can start easy enough, you look out of place in the bathroom you're "supposed" to use and people start to stare and whisper about you. But then, those stares get agitated. People realize you don't belong. Things get ugly.
If you, like me, are currently living away from your home state of North Carolina, be glad. Just this week, lawmakers in North Carolina have passed a new bill that will make it legal to discriminate against LGBT+ individuals.
The bill was originally created in response to a local ordinance passed in Charlotte that would permit LGBT+ people to use the bathrooms of their choice rather than the bathrooms that corresponded with the gender on their birth certificate. For anyone who doesn't quite understand why this bill is so significant, many members of the LGBT+ community who don't identify as cis-gendered (or the gender that they were assigned at birth) face not only discrimination when using other bathrooms, but they could potentially be putting their safety at risk. Furthermore, the bill also prevented businesses from discriminating against their customers based on race, gender, age, religion, or sexuality, including allowing anyone to use the bathroom of the gender that they identify with.
However, with the overturning of this bill, not only has Charlotte been prevented from enacting anti discrimination laws, but other areas of North Carolina have been prevented, as well. This means that not only are local school districts banned from allowing their transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms belonging to the gender of which they identify, but this has also prevented local minimum wage decisions.
North Carolinians will not take this sitting down, though. Many companies have openly announced their opposition of the bill including American Airlines, Apple, IBM, PayPal, and more which as a result could hurt funding for schools. The NBA has also announced that they may be considering moving their All-Star Game to another location as a result.
This past Thursday, over 200 people gathered in Raleigh, NC to protest the bill and many have started to boycott businesses from North Carolina that have not spoken out against the bill. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union are planning to take legal action against the bill, and nationally, many Americans have shown outrage at the civil rights work that has effectively been undone in a week. There is a common misconception that cis-gendered people are being put in danger by transgendered people without really realizing that it's the other way around.
If you are an ally and would like to do something to help, consider looking into the #I'llGoWithYou campaign here. The group works to find people who are willing to go into bathrooms with members of the LGBT+ community who don't identify as cis-gendered in order to protect them from physical violence and sexual assault. Essentially, this ally would be volunteering as a bathroom buddy to anyone who doesn't "pass" as the gender of the bathroom they now legally have to use. The site offers buttons and patches that you can purchase for your bags/clothes to display your support, and the hashtag is also available for use on social media. There is also a petition available here.
