Target released a statement on April 19 encouraging “transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity."
More than one million Americans have boycotted Target because of the company’s decision to make their restrooms gender-neutral.
I, however, took advantage of the light Target traffic and enjoyed shopping at Target on three different occasions this past week. Each occasion, I used their public restroom. Can you imagine what horror I experienced? Absolutely none. Actually, I have experienced more discomfort thinking about how much hate this policy has received than I ever will experience peeing in a stall next to a transgender.
The majority of Target’s boycotters will defend their stance, not because they have a problem with transgenders or the LGBT community in general, but because they believe the corporation’s new policy will attract "dangerous men."
“You aren’t afraid some creep will follow you into the restroom?”
I am not, indeed. I hope you know, friends, that any pedophile seeking out a victim will do so no matter what the policy. Criminals break laws whether the light is green or red. Target’s verbalization of their policy is not going to result in the wake of America’s rapists.
I also hope you all are aware that you have been using the restroom alongside transgenders for years without notice. Shocking, right? This entire time, you didn’t know that the hot blonde with a fabulous fashion sense was born a male. How devastating! Target's policy is not a new concept that our society all of a sudden needs to process. It is an act of equality that has finally been publicly presented.
Transgenders have fought their entire life to identify as who they want to be -- free, themselves, and happy. That’s the beauty of America, right? To have freedom to do as you please as long as it doesn’t result in the harm of others. Transgenders living their lives in peace is not by any means harmful. Transgenders using the restroom and minding their own business is not harmful. Harm arises when a transgender uses the restroom that their identity doesn't correspond with. Frankly, having non gender-neutral restrooms is more harmful in the long run.
Target's press release also included the statement: "We believe that everyone — all of our team members and all of our guests — deserve to be treated equally."
The idea that there is still such a huge gap in equality for the LGBT community is utterly unnerving. Most bothersome of all is the idea that while there are wars being fought for freedom, our society is so concerned with someone doing their business in a public restroom.
When something upsets me, I ask myself “Is this going to keep my awake at night?” If I answer “no,” I decide that I am wasting time and energy being upset. Boycotters, are you really disturbed enough by a gender-neutral bathroom that you can’t sleep? If so, let's answer a few more questions.How would you feel if your basic rights, i.e. using a public restroom, were infringed upon?
If your own son or daughter identified as the opposite gender, how would your stance change?
What would you do if you were denied the right to live your life authentically in a country that was founded on freedom?
Barring an innocent soul from a restroom is not moving our country forward. Granting a transgender access to the restroom that fits their identity will not bring harm anyone's way.
