Trans People & Restrooms

Recently this topic has exploded on social media and come to the front of everyone’s mind, which is crazy because it’s been happening for years. Literally. Years. Transgender people have always been around us, yet now that it’s out in the open we have a lot of people who are upset, which is understandable with their understanding of the situation.

“I don’t want my daughter in the restroom with some man in a dress with perverted intentions.”

Fair.

However, that’s not what’s happening.

I’ve seen this image shared all over social media and it’s incredibly insensitive, not to mention inaccurate. The majority of transgender people don’t look like this. This person in the photo is very obviously not attempting to live the life of a woman. It’s a mockery of trans people meant to provoke fear and anger among people who don’t understand, and often aren’t willing to try.

Like it or not, you have shared the restroom with a transgender person. Many many times. You didn’t notice because they are everyday people. They aren’t people trying to sneak a peek, these are people who are grocery shopping, running errands, and after drinking a venti caramel macchiato to start their day, have to pee. Sure there may be people who try to abuse the law with perverted intentions but there will always be people who abuse laws be it straight, gay, transgender, or any other person within any group.

I understand being uncomfortable with the idea. I understand not supporting the idea. I even understand being angry with the idea but I don't understand not even trying to listen to their side. You don’t have to like it, but why not at least listen to their story.

Although I’m not trans, I understand what it’s like to have my opinions entirely dismissed while I attempt to explain being gay. There are so many people in this world who just shut down completely when it comes to these issues but why? We aren’t asking for you to be gay like us or trans like us. We’re just asking that you listen. If you don’t like it, fine. Go about your day and we don’t even need to speak again but to not even try is cold-hearted.

Having said all that, I understand the apprehension for having a law allowing men in women’s restrooms and vise versa, however, it really has been happening forever. Transgender people aren’t a new thing, we are just finally coming around to being vocal about the issues the LGBT community faces everyday.

I don’t like forcing beliefs, mostly due to it being ineffective, and I do believe these laws are forceful. It’s clear to me that America isn’t ready for these laws with the way people have reacted to Target, although America doesn’t have a great track record for widespread tolerance. The thing you should understand is that the opposite has happened to us since the beginning of our lives, even as children. We’re forced to hide. We don’t always feel comfortable talking about our issues because we’re afraid of the reaction. It does make us angry, BUT as LGBT members, we've had to accept that the world is the way it is. It may be unfair but we can’t change it and forcing our beliefs is only doing the very thing that has been done to us. I see it as our responsibility to be patient while also pushing an appropriate amount to actually cause change rather than the “eye for an eye” mentality. It’s a fine line though and it’s never black and white.

As far as the laws, I think that transgender people should be able to use the restroom they identify with but if it’s going to spark emotions that cause them to be in an unsafe circumstance, I’d rather it not be a law. But transgender people are real. They are not seeking attention and they are not trying to rape your daughters.

All they want is to be unafraid to use a restroom in public.