I never thought that in my adult life, I would do a piece of writing with its focus on bathrooms. But today, that's (well sort of) what we are going to talk about: transgender men and women, and which bathrooms that they should use.
First and foremost, I would like to have everyone recognize that this issue isn’t truly over bathrooms. It’s about whether or not we as a society are going to accept transgender folks by their chosen gender. As always, let’s define what we are talking about. A simple google search gives us the definition of transgender as: denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender. In laments terms, your genitals are cohesive to what you believe your gender to be.
This is personal choice — if you want to identify as a woman, you identify as one, and if you want to identify as a man, you identify as one. Though I’m sure the reality and acceptance of this is an issue for some, that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I'm here to talk about the fact that when you label yourself as transgender, you are outwardly stating you believe your sex does not match your internal identity. With this being said, a transgender person not only identifies with the opposite sex but truly believes they are a member of it. And if they believe it and attempt to embody it, we as a society should respect that.
And in my opinion, they should use whichever bathroom equates to the gender that they identify with. Those who identify as a woman should use the woman’s room, and those who identify as a man, should use the men’s room. To me, there is a no if, and's or but's.
Though I’m not sure what the big deal about this is, there is a big deal about there. I have read several articles written by fearful mothers, saying that they would feel uncomfortable sending their daughters into bathrooms knowing that there could be someone with male genitals within the same room… and how this puts their children at risk to be sexually assaulted. Now, believe me, I can see why that would be frightening...
BUT, let me let you in on a little secret... Someone who is going to sexually assault someone else is going to do it anyway.
As unfortunate as it is, if someone is going to commit a crime, they are going to commit it if it’s legal or if it’s illegal. Obviously, there is a whole argument on enabling, but it’s comparative to gun laws. Stricter gun laws probably won’t equate to less gun violence because the people who are trying to get the guns the right way aren’t going to abuse the system. Same thing here... Someone who is trying to use the bathroom without being uncomfortable probably isn’t going to commit sexual assault. Whereas, someone who is going to commit that crime doesn’t care if they aren’t supposed to be in that bathroom.
Also, if we are talking about safety, we should also be considerate of the safety of the people that this whole argument is about. If people are having trouble accepting transgender men and women in their everyday lives, you would think that meant transgender men and women face high levels of harassment, right?
RIGHT.
53 percent of 6,450 transgender people reported being harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation in a recent survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
That means that half of the transgender people in America have reported being harassed.
The chances of these men and women being harassed are so high. So, not only are transgender men and women likely to get harassed, but we are going to put them in an environment where this harassment may take place, and where they are not comfortable being? That doesn't add up to me.
In a time of liberalism and defending civil rights, I am completely astonished that this is even an argument, and is even being taken to a legislative standpoint. In Alabama (no surprise there, with their civil rights track record), lawmakers are trying to make a minimum of six months in JAIL the punishment for not using your biological equivalent of a bathroom.
There is some movement to make what they're calling "gender neutral" restrooms, meaning that any person, identifying with any gender, can use the restroom. While I think this is a good idea, and could work for people who aren't sure which restroom they feel comfortable going into, I don't think it is necessary. I think men and women should be able to use whichever bathroom they feel most comfortable in.
As I said, in a generation where we have learned to expect people for who they are, and WHAT they are, you would think we wouldn’t be having the same argument over and over again. Just like no one chooses the color of their skin, their ethnicity, and their sexuality- you don’t “chose” to be born into the wrong body. But we as a society are choosing to tell them that they are making the wrong decision, that they are not allowed to use RESTROOMS (yes, literally a BATHROOM) that they are comfortable in, and that we are choosing to not accept them for what they truly feel they are.
