Living in a society where people get offended by literally everything, it’s not surprising that public restrooms are one of the biggest controversies of the year. 2016 has awakened the issue of transgenders using public restrooms. Should they use what’s on their birth certificate or what the individual identifies as?
There are many people in the public eye speaking out about this topic, like Stacey Dash. Dash is an actress known for her role in Clueless, but recently she has been known for her comments on the issue of transgenders using public restrooms. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Dash clearly stated where she stands on the issue. In summary she put it into three points; one, her children’s lives are at risk if transgender people use the public restroom they identify as. Two, people choose to be transgender. And three, because transgender people can’t make up their minds on who they are, they should just go to the restroom in the bushes. Although this is her opinion and she is allowed to have it, it could have been worded a little differently. Whether you agree with her opinion or not, it does give you a conservative view on the topic at hand.
However, there are celebrities who support the LGBTQ community and their rights, this includes supporting transgenders using the restroom they identify as instead of using the restroom of the gender that is on their birth certificate. One of the music industry's biggest icons, Bruce Springsteen, actually cancelled one of his shows in North Carolina due to a bill that passed. In short, the bill requires transgenders to use the restroom that matches their birth certificate gender. Springsteen believes that this bill isn’t moving society forward, but moving it backward.
I believe that this is a very serious issue because in a society where people are becoming more open to new ideas, there are still people who are afraid of or against change. This doesn’t mean that I believe people should or shouldn’t use restrooms they identify as, because in both situations it can cause issues. There are many logical reasons as to why people wouldn’t want transgenders in the untraditional restroom they would use, but being stuck in the ways of the past makes it hard for not only individuals to move forward, but America as a whole to move forward.
Giving people the option of men's and women's restrooms is black and white, which it should be because there would be no point in labeling the restrooms if it wasn't a cut and dry concept. The problem with this idea is that people are evolving and there are more than just "men" and "women" and facilities need to evolve with the people. Instead of having two options for restrooms, there should be a third for when there are gray areas. Some establishments call the third restroom option a "family" restroom, instead of making it just for families, use this third option for anyone who doesn't feel comfortable using the men's and/or women's restroom. This doesn't solve the problem, because the heart of the issue isn't just using bathrooms, but this is a step to helping the LGBTQ community.
