On February 22, 2017, the Trump administration took the first steps in revoking the rights of transgender students in public schools, formerly protected by the Obama administration. According to The Washington Post, the administration specified that they would be striking down the directive given by Obama that states transgender students in public schools have the right to use the restroom that coordinates with their gender identity. Thirteen states have filed lawsuits in response to that directive.
This is a huge problem, as Gavin Grimm, a Virginia teenager bringing a lawsuit against his local school board to an upcoming Supreme Court hearing, stated on The View.
Grimm explained to the co-hosts “Well, for me, it was a thought process that says ‘this is not right, and this can’t continue, so what steps can I take to make sure that I don’t have to spend my high school career separated from my peers’?”
When asked why he thought he was “separated from his peers” by The View co-host Sunny Hostin, Grimm explained that at his school, his only option for using the restroom is choosing one of three single-stalled bathrooms that only he can use. He felt, and still feels like he was denied a basic human right that all other students get to enjoy.
Because of this, he’s taking the issue all the way to the Supreme Court, representing all transgender students who are being discriminated against in public schools. The ruling from this case will set the precedent for generations to come, and how we define human rights for transgender students in schools that receive federal funding. Please read more on Gavin Grimm’s case here.
His case is the first to be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court on transgender rights.
Grimm received a big shout-out at the Emmy awards from actress Laverne Cox, who brought awareness to his personal journey and his upcoming case. During her phone interview with Grimm and The View co-hosts, she explained that opponents of transgender rights cite “anecdotal evidence”, alleging that if directives like these stay in place, people will pose as members of the opposite sex to gain access to bathrooms and cause harm to people.
Honestly, there’s no security barrier preventing anyone from doing this now or at any point in history. The only thing preventing anyone from walking into any public bathroom at this very moment is an unlocked door. However, for transgender people, danger and discrimination, a very real threat, could be just on the other side. Making it more difficult for these people to just use the bathroom isn't just about a bathroom, but something else entirely.
“No one poses as trans so they can have access to bathrooms so they can assault women. That doesn’t happen, and our opponents know that. They’re trying to make sure that these bathroom laws are about whether or not transgender people have the right to exist in public space. That’s what this is all about. It’s not a state’s rights issue, it’s a civil rights issue.” Cox said.
People are people. It shouldn’t matter to anyone who else enters a bathroom because they aren’t there to be in contact with you. Any person in any bathroom is there to mind their own business and be in and out within a few minutes. It’s time to stop treating transgender people like they aren’t people at all. They are not second class citizens. They are equal.
That’s all anyone is asking for: equality. Not “separate but equal”, but equality. If you’re not currently inspecting people as they come into the bathroom while you’re in there, then there’s no reason to start now.
So, with that being said, let’s think, discuss and take action on how we want to view people in the near future and for generations to come. They will be learning from us and how we decide to move forward.
