I hereby propose a simple solution to the "bathroom problem" the United States is seemingly obsessed with at the moment: un-gender all bathrooms. Take all the "male" and "female" signs off of bathrooms. Label them all "Universal," "All Genders," or--and this one may shock you--"BATHROOM." This may seem like a hyper-liberal idea, but this solution would save the United States time, money, stress, and hassle. It would also make life easier for trans individuals, who are targeted and attacked by the awful bathroom bills sweeping the country.
Not only would it make the lives of trans people, who have difficult enough lives already, easier, but it will also break down many barriers between genders. If we all share the same bathroom, we will gain a higher understanding and acceptance of other people. Many people in support of the bathroom bills do not currently view trans people as, well, people. They think anyone who identifies as a gender they were not assigned at birth--or any gender at all--is an oddity or a danger. They do not see those individuals as people with real feelings, real opinions, and a completely human need to pee. The lack of sympathy and empathy from people in favor of the bills is shocking and disturbing.
The politicians who created the bills would probably find the idea of completely communal bathrooms to be horrifying. However, gender-communal bathrooms would force prejudiced individuals to acknowledge the existence of trans people, and acknowledge the fact that all the rhetoric they have come to believe about trans people is wrong. One of the reasons people have been supporting the bathroom bills is to "protect young girls from men." First of all, the only times men have been found in a woman's bathroom is in support of these bills. Secondly, no one has protested having rapists and perverts in bathrooms with young boys. Obviously, protecting people is not one of the motivations behind the bills. There is only one motivation: prejudice.
People do not want to share bathrooms with trans people. People are trying to cover up their transphobia by labeling it different things--protecting "normal" people, preventing rape, and even protecting trans people. These are just not true. Sexual assault rarely occurs between strangers--especially in bathrooms. If the people who support these bills would do even a little research, they would realize their logic is not only faulty, but incorrect. Furthermore, if rapists were to attack women in bathrooms--which they do not--a bill would not stop them.
The Republican Party's support of these bills is somewhat surprising. The Republican Party was initially founded with the idea of decreasing the central government's size and increasing state's government's size. Bathroom bills, bills against abortion, trying to renege marriage equality, amongst other goals, contradict the entire foundation of the Republican Party. They are okay with the government barging into peoples' lives as long as it is not in their own lives. That would be unacceptable, but not allowing trans people to use public restrooms is perfectly acceptable. So not only do these bills violate basic human rights, but they also violate the very purpose of the Republican Party.
The purpose of a bathroom is to expel waste. It is not to check out the genitals of the person in the stall next to you. It is not a place for government. It is not a place to restrict peoples' rights. We should all use the same bathroom--having bathrooms for separate genders is silly, especially because there are not only two genders. Gender is a spectrum, and in order to acknowledge and validate all peoples' genders AND to avoid any further prejudice from Republicans, we must un-gender bathrooms.
I hope that before I die, our society progresses to be more accepting. I hope we stop hating other people, and I hope we stop trying to hide that hate by calling it something else. I hope all people will be able to use the restroom without speculation. I hope there is a time we can all pee in peace. The easiest way to do this is to take away the separate bathrooms. Get rid of women's and men's bathroom signs, and let them just say "bathroom." That is the only relevant information.
