I've been really upset with a lot of issues lately and I finally decided to weigh in on one of them. Pretty much every person living in America has some opinion about the so-called "problem" of allowing transgendered individuals to use the bathroom of the gender that they identify with.

Yes, people are probably sick of hearing about this subject, but I don't care. No one has to agree with any part of my opinion, and I'm really not asking anyone to. For the better part of my life I have actively used the men's restroom when the line for the women's room was too long. I was never met with any hostility from anyone of either sex. If anything was ever said to me it was usually in support of my choice, "I don't blame you, I wouldn't wait in that line either!" Alternately, my significant other has taken our daughter into the men's room so she could pee on numerous occasions when I wasn't available to take her and their was no "unisex" or "family" restroom in the area. Again, nothing has ever been said against this act. To me, this insinuates that people don't actually have a problem with females going into a "males only" area, but have a definite problem with males entering a "females only" zone. It also makes me wonder what is so acceptable about a biological female using the men's room when there is a crowd for the ladies room, but that it is unacceptable for a transgendered male using the same restroom because he identifies with the gender, regardless of anatomy.

What exactly does everyone think that a transgendered individual looks like? Do people just automatically assume that because someone was born a male that they most definitely have masculine features? Or that every natural born female is noticeably so? Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that is definitely not the case at all. I can think of a number of my own close acquaintances who were born a certain gender but look like the opposite. And not every transgendered person is so blatant about their identity. Many don't feel it necessary to inform the general population of the type of equipment they have between their legs. And thank God for that. People have been using the bathroom with people of the opposite sex for actual, literal years and never raised any hell because they were completely unaware of the fact! Ladies, it is entirely possible that the person sitting in the stall beside you in the female restroom at the craft store this morning had a penis. And you wouldn't even know it unless they outright told you. And fellas, that big, hairy guy who waltzed in to the men's room and closed the stall door behind him could have very well been using the stall to hide his vagina! Just take a moment to wrap your head around that.

One of the things that I find most appalling about this entire situation is that people are trying to use the idea of women's safety to promote a hate-filled agenda. That's laughable. If people really cared about women's safety there would be far fewer convicted rapists and abusive husbands in our society and there would be no reason to lobby for equal rights, there would be harsh penalties for people who threaten our lives when we turn them down for a date, we wouldn't be labeled as "sluts" for our open enjoyment of sex, we wouldn't fear leaving our drink unattended on the premise that someone might slip something in it, we wouldn't be advised to not go for a run after dark and to try to run with someone we know, we wouldn't have the government making decisions about our bodies and we certainly wouldn't have to fear wearing some outfits because we don't want to send the wrong message. No, for some reason the "women's safety" argument just doesn't add up.

I've heard that transgendered individuals using public restrooms is a bad idea because they might assault our daughters. It must have slipped everyone's minds that assault most commonly occurs at the hands of someone that you're familiar with and less likely to happen in such a public place as a department store restroom. And if the restroom is such a dangerous place, why would we only want to protect our daughters and not our sons? If the public is so afraid of a transgendered female using the women's restroom on the premise that she might assault a little girl, why are they not afraid of the same individual using the gender-specific restroom and assaulting a little boy? I don't think the argument for the safety of children holds too much weight either since I have yet to hear anyone make a fuss about separated/divorced parents introducing their many partners into their children's lives and being instructed to called the new person "mommy/daddy", at least until the next potential suitor walks through the revolving door. If the safety of children were really at the forefront of people's minds, television shows like "Maury" and "Jerry Springer" would no longer be amusing to watch.

I think the only reason this issue is any kind of an issue at all is because it is forcing change upon people that they don't want. True, we are hardwired to dislike trying new things. It seems that the only real reason that anyone has against allowing transgendered individuals to use the restroom of their associated identity is because "it's wrong." How? How is it wrong for a person to sit behind a closed door and relieve themselves in private? It is most unfortunate that this issue is probably not going to disappear quietly with everyone minding their own business and saving their outrage for a time when it is really needed. I hope that future generations can learn from our mistakes and be wise enough to not heap hatred and bigotry upon our neighbors simple because they don't understand their choices/feelings.