For over a century, Americans have involved themselves in many debates and have witnessed new legislation changing who has the right to use public restroom facilities. One hundred and twenty-six years ago, we were debating whether African-Americans could use the same facilities as white people and later even arguing whether gay men should be allowed to use the same restrooms as straight men. Fast forward to 2016, and here we are again, arguing whether transgender people should be allowed to use the same restroom as cisgender people. Transgender people — who are far more likely to be the victims of harassment and violence if forced to use a bathroom that is inconsistent with their gender identity or expression — deserve the ability to use the bathroom in peace and safety. Using the bathroom is a basic human function, and denying that to a person is inhumane. Creating laws that discriminate against any group of American citizens will threaten our individual and collective sense of safety and security much more than sharing a restroom could.
The common complaint that allowing people to go into the restroom that they feel most comfortable and safe in will allow a loophole for sexual predators to commit crimes is simply false. Similar to the counter argument of gun control: What’s going to stop a criminal from breaking the law? By definition, a criminal breaks laws. If people are so concerned about sexual assault taking place in bathrooms, why aren’t we passing harsher legislation to crack down harder on sexual assaults?
There are a whopping 0 cases of transgender people assaulting cisgender people in public restrooms, yet according to a 2013 Williams Institute report, “roughly 70% of trans people have reported being denied entrance, assaulted or harassed while trying to use a restroom.”
Also worth mentioning is that according to a survey taken by FORGE in 2005, one in two transgender individuals are sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lives. Thirteen transgender or genderqueer people have been murdered this year alone. Frankly, transgender people need the support of new laws that will protect them as they have every reason to fear for their life every time they step out of their homes. Thirty-two states, including Alabama, won’t even protect them under current hate crime laws.
What I have yet to see someone do, is any extensive thinking on how we would even enforce a law such as House Bill 2 that would require individuals to use the restroom that corresponds with their birth certificate. Both transgender men and women (who aren’t considered passable as women by society’s standards) who use the women’s restroom will make these concerned women feel uncomfortable either way. In such an instance where this happens and the police are called, the possible consequences are endless. What happens then if a transgender man now comes into the women’s restroom? What if someone calls the police on a cisgender woman that doesn’t look “feminine” enough? Technically, due to this new legislation, they have every right to use the women’s restroom as you do, so no one wins. The only thing this law will accomplish is an invasion and degradation of the privacy and dignity of American citizens when all anyone really wants to do is use the bathroom in peace.
