Recently, there is has been a lot of heated debate over the issue of transgender bathroom policies. This includes the law that North Carolina passed and the boycott on Target. From a personal standpoint, I was raised by fairly progressive parents in a fairly regressive place. I was always told to be accepting and respect others regardless of race, age, or sexual orientation. That being said, sharing a bathroom with a transgender woman has never really posed a problem for me. However, I know that not everyone in this life will have the same views or thoughts as me. I know that there are people who still think black people don’t deserve to sit at the front of the bus or that homosexuality is unnatural. Even so, I aim to educate as much as I can.
Transgenders have been around for a very long time whether or not society has recognized them. I don’t just mean during American history. Oh no, transgenders have been around since ancient Rome. In our modern world, there have been vastly more gateways opened for those previously oppressed, including, African Americans, women, homosexuals, and, of course, transgenders. Still, some people have a difficult time accepting these changes.
The thing about the bathroom issue is that people are making it more relevant than it needs to be. Where do the people who are so appalled by a transgender person using the restroom with them think that they used the bathroom before? There are a good bit of transgenders who no longer appear to have ever been the opposite gender. This is where the law that North Carolina passed becomes an issue. If you are unfamiliar, this law states that you must use the bathroom that coincides with your genitalia, regardless of appearance. So, if a man is in a public area and needs to use the restrooms, but, he just happens to still have a vagina, he must go into the women's restroom. However, the enforcement of this law is practically impossible. In addition to enabling predators, this law completely violates transgenders civil rights as American citizens.
Imagine it this way. Let's say that you were born a brunette but decided to dye it blonde. Now, there has been a law passed that demands that brunettes use a completely different hair salon than blondes. You identify as blonde since you've been blonde for quite some time now. You even have blonde as your hair color on your license. But because you are biologically brunette, you must go to this different hair salon. Ridiculous, isn't it?
My point is, this fascistic oppression of transgenders is something that not a single American should stand for. If we claim to love freedom and to want to protect it, then we, as a united people, should aim to fight this. We should always aim to fight for the little man, or the .03 percent.
