Recently, Target has expressed a new bathroom policy in which everyone can use the bathroom facilities in their store with whichever gender they feel applies to them. With this, an uproar has been started. Thousands of people have begun boycotting Target for this claiming that it is an attraction for sexual predators. Many groups including Christians and the American Family Association have started potions to end the newly formed policy by Target.
The following is MY OPINION on the current bathroom policy by Target and is not meant to sway anyone’s view on the matter.
1. Lack of equality
Target is trying to provide equality to its team members and customers. Everyone has the right to be comfortable in their own skin, and for transgender people, this is a step in the right direction for them. They, like everyone else, deserve to be treated with the same respect. It should be their choice which bathroom they would like to go in by what they recognize themselves as. Forcing them to be condoned to what their birth certificate says is just cruel. We live in a society where you’re told to be who you are, but to an extent. I’m amazed at the millennials with this bathroom policy situation. We’re the generations that brought gay marriage into action proving that they also had a right to be with who they loved, but we bring a public bathroom into the mix and everyone rebels against it. Everyone deserves to have the same chances in life and to be able to be equal, why is that so hard?
2. Boycotts
I went to the official website the American Family Association to learn more and watched their “about us” video in which it was stated, “…families are worth preserving, and that every human life is worth protecting.” The American Family Association is a Christian organization in which values, like the ones stated, don’t seem to apply to people who are transgender. They’re a part of a family; and they’re worth protecting the same as everyone else. Christians are supposed to be loving, accepting, and forgiving but instead fight against what they see as “wrong” in God’s eyes. It is seen as sin to behave in a manner that strays from the Bible’s teachings, but in reality, we all stray off of that path every day. No one has the right to condemn someone for their sins when everyone sins. It’s contradicting to sit on the sideline telling a group of people that they commit the ultimate sin when we also sin every day. I am a Christian; I will not hold any sins against you. I will simply love you and know that you are making whatever decision you feel is best for you and accept that without judgement.
3, Sexual predators
The problem that some have with this bathroom policy is that it’s a gateway for sexual predators, but let’s be realistic for a second. There is a chance for sexual predators to attack in a bathroom everywhere, whether it’s at Target or any other public place. We cannot sit back and punish others for the wrongs of the predators. We may as well be Donald Trump assuming all Muslims are terrorists. Everyone deserves a chance to be who they are and who are we to take that away from someone?
