In March 2016, North Carolina passed the law HB2 that stated all individuals must use the bathroom, shower, and changing room that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificates. This sparked both national outrage and support, and on either side, the reactions were extreme.
Numerous musicians, such as Demi Lovato, Pearl Jam, and Bruce Springsteen have cancelled concert tour dates in North Carolina, while others such as Cyndi Lauper and Mumford & Sons have donated some of the concert proceeds to organizations opposing the law. Paypal even canceled its expansion plans there. The federal Justice Department stated that the law violates the Civil Rights Act, and President Obama gave a directive that stated public schools must allow individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identities. If the federal government finds the law unconstitutional, North Carolina risks losing federal funding.
Most famously, Target issued a statement saying all individuals are allowed to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identities. This has resulted in nationwide boycotts and several very vocal protests in Target stores.
Supporters of the law argue that allowing transgender individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identities will put individuals, especially women and children, in danger. Here are a few instances of the inappropriate conduct they predicted.
1. In November of 2015, Richard Rodriguez dressed up as a woman and filmed women in bathroom stalls. He was arrested and identified as the same man who previously filmed women in a bathroom in a Virginia mall and used a mirror to view the women’s bathroom stalls in a Walmart.
2. In April of 2016, a man was arrested for secretly taking photographs of a 10-year-old girl in a Pennsylvania bathroom. He was charged with child pornography.3. In April of 2016, Andrew Donahue, a 31-year-old private school teacher, was arrested for secretly recording individuals in his home bathroom. There were three known instances, one of which involved a minor.
4. In April of 2016, pictures and videos from the Volunteer Park's women’s bathrooms were found on a man’s computer in Wisconsin. Some pictures included minors.
5. In May of 2016, a cisgender man choked an 8-year-old girl in a women’s restroom.
6. In May of 2016, Ebony Belcher, a 32-year-old transgender woman, claimed a woman security guard asked her to leave the women’s bathroom in a Giant grocery store. She said the security guard called her derogatory names and grabbed her. After the incident, she called the police, and the security officer is facing charges.
7. In May of 2013, Jason Pomare, a 33-year-old man, was charged with six instances of filming women without their consent. At a Macy’s Department Store in Palmdale, California, Pomare dressed as a women, entered the women’s bathroom, and secretly filmed women under the stalls. Security reported the behavior, and after images were found on his camera, he was arrested.
However, none of the charges were against transgender men or women. Most of the charges deal with cisgender men entering women’s bathrooms, which is not the bathroom that corresponds with their regular gender identities. Some of the men have dressed up as women, but most incidents have nothing to do with the transgender bathroom issue. Inappropriate behavior has happened before the laws, and it will happen afterwards no matter which side prevails. Also, most of the men who dressed up as women did not claim to be transgender women. After exiting the bathroom, they can take off the women’s clothes and live their lives without the struggles transgender individuals deal with daily. They can confidently go into the bathrooms that corresponds to their gender identities and feel comfortable in their skins.
The laws involve using the appropriate bathroom and nothing else. If a transgender man or woman film or assault individuals in any bathroom, they would be arrested too. The law does not protect any illegal conduct. It allows individuals to enter the bathroom, use the bathroom, wash their hands, and leave.
It is true that society is changing and labels are becoming less clear. Society has always changed through generations, and disagreements are bound to arise. This issue has divided the country and safety is a priority. However, we should deal with the problem at its root. It's about violence rather than inclusivity. Men have dressed up as women to enter women's bathrooms before the law, and putting on women's clothes for an hour for a single task does not constitute as a gender identity.
Having designated locked bathrooms for transgender individuals might be an improvement right now, and I think family bathrooms are great. However, isolating individuals will not solve the issue in the long run. The federal laws aim to make public places more inclusive to all individuals without fear of discrimination or violence. Bathrooms are only part of the issue, and maybe some people have taken advantage of the laws. But taking away the simple comfort of using a public bathroom (and only using the bathroom), and taking away a small step to make the lives of transgender individuals just a little bit easier in order to ineffectively stop a few men who will find any loophole to act inappropriately is not fair.
