When you are out shopping, at school or at work and you find yourself needing to use the restroom, how much thought do you really put into it? Are you afraid to go to the restroom? Is it extremely difficult to find a bathroom you are able to use? Do you fear for your safety constantly? Are there places where you are forbidden to use the restroom?
You probably answered no to most of those questions. For most of us cisgendered people, going to the bathroom is a pretty regular part of our day. We don't really have to think about it. When we have to go, we walk to the nearest men's or women's room and we do our business. It's fairly simple. However, that isn't the case for everyone. There are a number of people in our society who face constant trials when they realize they are away from home and need to use a bathroom.
It's all over the news right now. The "controversy" over transgender bathroom policies has people talking. Whether it is to celebrate or riot the new policies, everyone has something to say. Seemingly everyone has an opinion.
Why is this such a large issue right now? Why do people care so much?
The only thing that transgender bathroom laws are doing is allowing women to use the women's bathroom and men to use the men's bathroom. Why do people object to that? Just because someone isn't cisgendered means they shouldn't be able to go to the restroom in peace?
No one would walk up to a cis woman and tell her she wasn't allowed to enter the women's bathroom, would they? No. So why do we insist on doing that to non-cis men and women?
Equal Access to public bathroom laws are finally making it so people cannot deny transgender men and women from using public restrooms. This is undeniably a good thing.
However, not everyone seems to think so.
Many people have concerns about these laws, raising questions such as: don't these laws leave women more vulnerable to sexual assault? Isn't it just easier to give transgender people their own bathroom? You can find many other questions on a frequently asked questions page on a legal website.
The Lambda Legal website answers these questions eloquently:
Do these laws leave women more vulnerable to sexual assault?
The short answer is no.
The Lambda site explains by saying, "There is no evidence that gender-segregated bathrooms are 'safer' for cisgender women than unisex bathrooms. And besides, there are laws protecting people from criminal conduct in public restrooms. If anything, a concern for safety weighs in favor of bathroom accessibility."
Isn't it easier to just create another separate restroom for transgender people?
Again, short answer: no.
Lambda says, "Transgender people should not be singled out as the only people using any particular restroom."
This question is one of the more complicated ones. While it is easy to say that we shouldn't be singling people out to use a specific bathroom away from the rest of the population, it can be more complicated than that. But the Lambda site says no, and I have to agree. We really don't need to have more segregation.
Using the bathroom shouldn't be a political fight. Let women use the women's restroom and let men use the men's restroom. This issue is as simple as that. It's a bathroom. It is a necessity and something potentially dangerous for people to not have access to. It doesn't need to be such a controversial topic.
