Recently, there has been an uprising in gender-neutral bathrooms installed in various facilities across the country. Within the past couple of years, over 150 college campuses have implemented the gender neutral bathroom, but with what intentions?
For those who don't know what that entails, a gender-neutral bathroom is meant to be a safe place to go into regardless of gender, sex, sexuality, etc. But what are people really taking it in as?
Perhaps a piece of privacy stripped from them? But see, this is exactly the opposite of the purpose it's supposed to serve. The gender-neutral bathroom was not installed to affect anyone in any negative aspect. In fact, the real problem that threatens a large part of society as a whole is the ignorance juxtaposed next to the complex LGBTQ+ spectrum.
One of the most important issues that people still get confused about is the difference between gender and sex. They are two words that should never be considered synonymous, no matter what your fourth grade teacher told you. There are more than two genders, as gender is a social construct: like those things your parents told you not to do at a young age because you were a boy or a girl. Additionally, some people can feel more than one gender at one time, or feel a different gender depending on the day. And to clarify, there are only two biological sexes: male and female.
Further, the subject of transgender, gender-fluid, agender, gender queer or bi/tri/pan gender are not exactly highlighted or even addressed in school curriculum. A large part of ignorance is the assumption that it may not be affecting most people, but it should.
You can compare this to an African American or a woman or a Muslim fighting for their rights because they were once oppressed and still are. Maybe you're not a minority or a woman, and maybe you don't identity on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, but why sit on a high horse and bathe in ignorance? Society as a whole will continue to remain stagnant if everyone assumes that these issues are unimportant.
So what is the real purpose behind gender-neutral bathrooms? Yes, they are there to provide a safe space to the people who are gender non-conforming, multiple genders and transgender; people who prefer a neutral bathroom to feel comfortable while figuring themselves out or in midst of coming out. But even more than that, they are for everyone. No one should feel their privacy stripped away from them.
A person who identifies on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and who wished to remain anonymous explains that "If a cisgender person is forced to use a gender-neutral bathroom, they are mildly uncomfortable at best.
If a trans person must use a restroom that does not align with their gender, their entire identity is invalidated at best, and they are harassed or physically assaulted at worst.
For cisgender folks, it's just peeing. For transgender folks, it's yet another voice in a choir of thousands who tell them that they cannot and do not belong in our society. And that's a very dangerous message to send."
