Most people don’t have to think about which bathroom to use. They use the one labeled men’s or the one labeled women’s. It’s a simple decision. For transgender individuals, however, it is not that easy. The transgender rights movement has gained a lot of attention in recent years and with that attention brings many issues and questions. One of the issues that has popped up is which bathroom transgender people should use. Some think that people should only use the bathroom of the sex that they were assigned at birth while others feel they should be able to use the one that corresponds with the gender they feel they are and live as. Forcing transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their biological sex may seem like a good solution to this
Many people believe that letting transgender people use the bathroom they want is violating the rights of the rest of the population. Due to this, bills have been and continue to be proposed that would make everyone use the bathroom that matches the sex on their legal documents. In order to avoid discrimination and other issues, this would mean that restaurants and other establishments would have to make every customer provide identification to get into the bathroom (Metlzer). For those who are not transgender, this would seem annoying and unnecessary. For those who are, it might be a sensitive subject, as many consider it a very private part of their lives. One that they probably do not want strangers at a restaurant knowing. While transgender men and women have to worry about public establishments, school is a big area of concern for transgender students. There have been many cases of students who have either been encouraged or forced to use the bathroom of their biological sex or a staff bathroom. Some state courts have ruled that transgender students have to be allowed the choice of which bathroom to use and not giving them this choice is violating their rights. The first case of this was in Maine, after a transgender student’s school tried to make her use a unisex bathroom. (Wetzstein 1). Transgender employees
However, what many people does not realized it is that by stating that God does not agree with homosexuality, they are segregating homosexuals and treating them differently. For example, there have been several news and statistical data that shows how the LGBT community is sometimes treated unequal in many ways, especially marriage. Marriage is defined as the civil union of two people that love each other. However, gay marriage was not permitted on several states until June of 2015. It was not until June 26, 2015 that the US Supreme Court that stated how the constitution of the United States will guarantee the right of marriage to couple of the same sex. Furthermore, compared to other times a lot more people are supporting the LGBT community,”
In order to answer whether transgender children be allowed to use the restroom they identify with I would first like to identify what transgender means. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary “The Medical Definition of TRANSGENDER.: of, relating to, or being a person (as a transsexual or a transvestite) who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person 's sex at birth.” I believe the knowing what transgender means is important because there are misconceptions about someone being transgender. This definition is also important as it helps support the pros and cons of my argument. I was confused about transgender individuals before doing research for this paper. However, based on the article “From Jack to Jill:
When a transgender person uses the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, it boosts well-being. It is legal to for transgender individuals to use whichever bathroom they feel to be is more beneficial. Many schools and states are trying to appeal this law. When the South Dakota House of Representatives were faced with the option to veto this law they chose to keep the law in place (“South Dakota House”). New York has also reinforced transgender individual’s right to choosing a bathroom (“New York mayor”).
Rael, Andrea. "Coy Mathis, Colo. Transgender Child Banned From Using School Bathroom, Ignites Debate Over Anti-Discrimination Laws." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 May 2014.
In recent years 18 states have enacted laws to help protect transgender and non – binary people, but there are still some states unwilling to get with the program. Kentucky State Sen. C.B. Embry Jr. introduced a bill that seeks to ban transgender students from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity, it would also enable students to sue schools for $2,500 if they encounter a transgender peer using what they perceive to be the wrong restroom. (unsure how to site). In Florida there is a law going though the process that states
Early April 2016, North Carolina passed a law restricting governments from passing laws that are discriminatory. This law is intended to protect Transgender people from discrimination. Discrimination against Transgenders is against the law, and it has stirred up arguments throughout the nation. With more and more people standing up against discrimination regarding Transgenders, the debate about Transgenders is now nationwide. Unfortunately, Transgenders still continue to face public discrimination due to misinformation and misleading statements from the media.
Many people are arguing over the transgender bathroom situation, even here in our very own school system, Grace Christian Academy. Some say one should use the restroom of his/her biological identity, while others say one should have the right to use the restroom they gender identify with. Now the issue is starting to arise in public and private school systems, since the law now states every school has to have at least one transgender bathroom available on school property. As a parent with a child in your school system, I would like to express my opinion on this matter with you. Even though this is a private Christian school, and I am a Christian myself, I do not see a problem with having a transgender bathroom on school property for multiple reasons. For example,
Furthermore, as there are only male and female identities on the ID cards, and there are only male and female’s washrooms, many transgender people have faced serious insults and discriminations in the public. These serious insults happen almost every day in their life and it has caused severe mental stress on them, which would lead them to have emotional disorders and depressions. They are facing unequally in the public utilities and services. The transgender community should have the right to use the restroom of the gender they identify with or have an alternate choice. Transgender people deserve the right to have access to a comfortable, safe place to go to the restroom just as any other human being. Yes, it could potentially be a dangerous liability, but remember the feelings of the people who live in the wrong body. A safe way for the trans community to use the restroom would be to give the option of a gender neutral facility. The problems that the transgender people are facing are not just some emotional harmfulness; it is some problems and inequalities that would seriously endanger their lives, like health cares and life-threatening behaviors which are caused by the ongoing
Most transgenders are most likely just like us normal people, but certain circumstances call for certain measures and this is one of those cases. There is nothing against them personally, just having separate bathrooms is just a thing that needs to be set in place to protect everyone, including transgenders.
Transgender people deserve to have all the rights that a non-transgender person has. As a person who assigns herself to her assigned gender, I can go to the doctor at anytime with any problem and can get treated very easily. Unfortunately, people that identify as transgender do not have the same rights as I do. A transgender person by definition is: “someone whose gender identity-that is, an individual’s internal sense of being male or female-does not align with his or her assigned sex” (Barry).
There are many different Gender identities and gender neutral bathrooms effect more than just Trans people. People who are not transgender also have trouble when it comes to bathrooms. For example, someone who is gender fluid is described to "feel like a mix of the two traditional genders, but may feel more man some days, and more woman other days." (Killerman). It is very difficult for people who do not "pass" as a specific gender to use the restroom in public. This is not an issue solely felt by transgendered people.
The issue of gender neutral bathrooms and transgender bathrooms is a hot topic right now in North America. Some people are strongly for it and others are going to great lengths to stop it. The majority of public bathrooms in Canada and The United States of America are gender segregated. Public bathrooms are one of the last places to still be separated by gender. Men and women work with each other, sit next to each other in restaurants, use public pools together, and much more. A bathroom with a locked stall, or single occupancy washrooms with a lock, should not be much different. When the idea was raised by the LGBTQIA*+ community to have transgender bathrooms or gender neutral bathrooms, North America was divided. There were those with no
Florida’s, Texas’s and Kentucky’s new proposed bathroom laws have “caused fear and dismay among transgender people around the country” (Tannehill). Kentucky laws are more focused on the school systems but Florida 's and Texas’s laws treat transgenders as if they were criminals. Both of these states have regulations that will give transgenders civil and or criminal charges for using the bathroom they identify with (Tannehill). A transgender could be charged a fine for using the wrong bathroom and “people who report a transgender people in the bathroom to claim civil damages, for example a bounty” (Tannehill). Florida and Texas are trying to look out for the best interest of the majority population, however, “we all have to use the bathroom, but these laws would seemingly force transgender people to choose between fines and jail, risking horrific violence or leaving the state” (Tannehill). These laws have been seen as unreasonable to the transgender community and have been fought by the ACLU lawyer Joshua Block, “We’re talking about people who also have their sense of privacy and modesty, and who are not going to want to have everyone see an anatomical part of themselves that they feel should never have been there in the first place,” (Marcus). It has also been found that it’s illegal for employers to carry out such rules, “The Equal Employment