The past few days as I have been scrolling Facebook, I have seen a few posts about gender neutral bathrooms. So, I see it fit that I shall also put my input in on this situation. This all started when Target decided to allow for transgender people to use the bathroom of their choosing. With this, there has been over 517,000 signatures boycotting the business. Most of these people are stating that they have no problem with transgender people, but are nervous about “predators.” That being said, I agree with Target's decision to make their bathrooms gender neutral. Here are a couple of reasons why.
My first being that, people shouldn’t have to fear using a restroom. They shouldn’t have to worry about going out because they won’t know which bathroom is actually okay to use. Transgender people are people too, they identify as a certain gender, or no gender at all, therefore, why should you be forced to use a specific bathroom just because of the genitalia you have? By giving bathrooms a gender, you are forcing people to pick between the two, which should not be the case at all. Aren’t we as a society trying to be accepting of all? Why shouldn’t we be updating the way we live to fit the needs of everyone?!
Now, the big concern on everyone’s mind about gender neutral bathrooms are “predators.” But, let me retort with this, why are we sexualizing the bathroom? A bathroom is just that, a place to relieve yourself! I know women are afraid of sexual harassment at all times, or parents with their children. But, if a predator was going to take your child in a bathroom, they would have already done it by now. All but a door is stopping them. Sexualizing a bathroom doesn’t make any sense. There are stalls for a reason, meaning you still have your privacy, so why does it matter if a man or a women is next to you!
All in all, why should a bathroom be your biggest concern? Bathrooms are not the number one place for predators. It’s a place to go to the bathroom! And shouldn’t parents be rejoicing because they no longer need to worry about bringing their daughter going into a men’s bathroom or vice versa?! Stop being one-track minded, and start caring for each other and carrying your life with compassion!
