Imagine you are a woman who pops into a public restroom only to see a person standing at the sink, a person in work boots, jeans, leather vest, and a well trimmed beard. Or you are a man you walk in and see a long-haired, large breasted person in a flowing dress putting on make-up. In both cases you make an immediate gender decision for that person and you will likely think they are in the wrong bathroom. You would be right, but state laws are making their decision to go to the right bathroom a crime. The laws actually go beyond that, but for my purposes I am just going to talk about the restroom law. That is right, laws are passing that require transgender people to use the bathroom of the sex they were declared at birth.
For the vast majority of humans we are boy one of two sexes. The culture we are born in defines how that biological state will play out in our express of our identity which is our gender. However there have always been people who are born who feel they want to express themselves differently that their culture defines them. In some cases those people are seen as a separate gender and often holy. Other cultures demonize them and sadly kill them. Now let's be clear, this is not being gay, this is someone who deeply and early on feel an internal identity to a gender that does not match their biological sex.
I don't fully understand it because I don't feel that way. But I know it is real and while it is a tiny percent of humanity but that does not mean it is insignificant. I encounter regularly at least three people who are in various stages of transition about once a week, and those are the ones I know about. How many more have transitioned who have not shared their story? Just think if 1/2 of 1% of the American population is transgender that is still 1.6 million Americans. That is more than the number of Japanese Americans. So when people complain about that it is a tiny number of people who are seeking safety, rights and dignity just think about what happened when our country decided that the Japanese didn't deserve to keep their rights. That was a painful part of our history. Do we want to repeat it with another group?
The thing is that bathroom issues are not new. I remember back in the 80s going to the Generic Bar in Syracuse and they had a men's room, women's room, and a restroom for those who didn't fit those categories. So people of different gender identities have been dealing with this discomfort and even back then the counter-culture of the G-Bar and many other places made their customers more comfortable. Over the decades, as we come to recognize the reality of transgender and it is becoming more mainstream and retailers and government are responding to meet the growing need of our culture.
There is an argument that boys in schools and men in public will pretend to be transgender to use a bathroom to prey on girls and women in the ladies room. This of course is a serious concern but a man could dress like a women now and sneak in and in fact many have, many more have not bothered and have hidden in women's bathrooms to attack women. There is no evidence of a transgender person attacking anyone in a public restroom or locker room and a boy who pretends to be transgender to get access to a girls' locker room would have to deal with the bigotry most transgender students see and would not be worth a peak at naked girls. There would be an easier way. In fact a transgender person is more likely to be attacked by someone who is driven by fear, hate, and anger be in a public restroom or a school yard. Bigotry is a major motivator and since the start of this current rage and new laws several women who appear masculine have been attacked in public restrooms.
Our culture is becoming more accepting of difference and things we didn't know were happening are out in the open. You have likely shared a public restroom with a transgender person. It is safe. Passing laws that attack a group of people because you are uncomfortable is cowardly, bigoted and anti-American. We should be more vocal about it.
For the vast majority of humans we are boy one of two sexes. The culture we are born in defines how that biological state will play out in our express of our identity which is our gender. However there have always been people who are born who feel they want to express themselves differently that their culture defines them. In some cases those people are seen as a separate gender and often holy. Other cultures demonize them and sadly kill them. Now let's be clear, this is not being gay, this is someone who deeply and early on feel an internal identity to a gender that does not match their biological sex.
I don't fully understand it because I don't feel that way. But I know it is real and while it is a tiny percent of humanity but that does not mean it is insignificant. I encounter regularly at least three people who are in various stages of transition about once a week, and those are the ones I know about. How many more have transitioned who have not shared their story? Just think if 1/2 of 1% of the American population is transgender that is still 1.6 million Americans. That is more than the number of Japanese Americans. So when people complain about that it is a tiny number of people who are seeking safety, rights and dignity just think about what happened when our country decided that the Japanese didn't deserve to keep their rights. That was a painful part of our history. Do we want to repeat it with another group?
The thing is that bathroom issues are not new. I remember back in the 80s going to the Generic Bar in Syracuse and they had a men's room, women's room, and a restroom for those who didn't fit those categories. So people of different gender identities have been dealing with this discomfort and even back then the counter-culture of the G-Bar and many other places made their customers more comfortable. Over the decades, as we come to recognize the reality of transgender and it is becoming more mainstream and retailers and government are responding to meet the growing need of our culture.
There is an argument that boys in schools and men in public will pretend to be transgender to use a bathroom to prey on girls and women in the ladies room. This of course is a serious concern but a man could dress like a women now and sneak in and in fact many have, many more have not bothered and have hidden in women's bathrooms to attack women. There is no evidence of a transgender person attacking anyone in a public restroom or locker room and a boy who pretends to be transgender to get access to a girls' locker room would have to deal with the bigotry most transgender students see and would not be worth a peak at naked girls. There would be an easier way. In fact a transgender person is more likely to be attacked by someone who is driven by fear, hate, and anger be in a public restroom or a school yard. Bigotry is a major motivator and since the start of this current rage and new laws several women who appear masculine have been attacked in public restrooms.
Our culture is becoming more accepting of difference and things we didn't know were happening are out in the open. You have likely shared a public restroom with a transgender person. It is safe. Passing laws that attack a group of people because you are uncomfortable is cowardly, bigoted and anti-American. We should be more vocal about it.
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