A hot topic in politics right now (besides the presidential elections) is transgender bathroom laws. A few states in the U.S. have started pushing for laws dictating that people may only use the women's / men's rooms if they are listed as female / male on their birth certificate. That means no one who has "male" listed on their birth certificate may enter a woman's restroom.
The problem that arises from these laws is that they target the transgender community and prevent them from using the bathroom that they feel most comfortable in. The counter-argument to this concern is that only a very small percentage of the population is transgender and these new laws are designed to keep "actual men / pedophiles" out of the women's restrooms. By allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice, we may be allowing male criminals an excuse to peek at, photograph, molest or rape women and young girls in the bathroom.
According to USA Today, "the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, and the American Civil Liberties Union say there is no statistical evidence of violence to justify the laws."
North Carolina was the first state to actually pass a law that would bar transgender people from using the bathroom. Now, according to the Daily Caller, after a lawsuit filed from Texas fighting against a push from the Obama administration that would allow transgender students attending public schools to use whichever bathroom they feel the most comfortable in, the decision about whether or not this sort of law becomes reality might be left in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Campaigns arguing against these discriminatory "anti-transgender" laws have popped up all over the Internet. One of the most viral campaigns being transgender people who "pass" holding up signs asking if people think they belong in the men's / women's room despite looking 100 percent like the opposite sex.
One of the most viral tweets on the subject from Michael C. Hughes highlighting the ridiculousness of these bathroom laws.
And while many transgender rights advocates have argued that these pictures and experiences exclude the struggles of transgender individuals who do not "pass" for their identified gender, the ideas that people are meant to think about when seeing these images are definitely clear. Do we really think that transgender men belong in the women's room and transgender women belong in the men's room?
The argument that these distinctions will somehow protect the children and women don't seem to hold much water as holes keep getting pointed out in that logic. For one, peeping, photographing, molesting and raping women and children in the way specified is already illegal and it doesn't prevent anyone from trying to do it. And allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice won't prevent someone who might "cry wolf / transgender" when caught doing it from being tried and sentenced to jail time since, while being in that bathroom may not be against the law, sex crimes are still sex crimes regardless of whether or not the person committing the crime says they are or actually is transgender. On top of that, these laws still allow male predators and perverts to use the bathroom, just the men's room, meaning they could just as easily prey on young boys. And for those people who claim that they would simply be "uncomfortable" using the bathroom with a transgender person in the same bathroom as them, it's not the greatest excuse in the world for segregation or discrimination. You've been using the bathroom with transgender people up to this point anyway without any major hiccups. You probably didn't even notice in most cases.
The fact is that is there is no way to be 100 percent safe in a public space or restroom. Banning certain people from using it, whether or not they are actually guilty of any crimes, won't solve any problems and won't prevent bathroom crimes from happening. If there is a genuine desire to try and stop sexual assaults on women and young girls in public restrooms, it's a good idea to look at some other ways. Maybe more public spaces should have family or single person, unisex bathrooms provided. Regardless, it doesn't seem like banning certain people from using the restroom will really solve any problems.
