The Transgender Issue & Societal Gender Constructs Recently, courtrooms have been filling up with the issue of transgender rights and the need for protection of these people’s basic rights that everyone else has (Scherer 32). The most pressing, or popular issue, within this battle, seems to be which public bathrooms should be used by transgender individuals. On the one hand, conservatives believe that everyone should go to the bathroom specified for the gender they were born with, claiming that invasion of privacy and safety issues would be bound to arise in allowing transgender individuals to go to the bathroom of their choice. While proponents claim that the transgender community is excluded from society, bullied, and forced to live as the gender they were born as, not what they identify with--leaving them restricted, oppressed, and denied of their basic freedoms and rights under the Constitution (Scherer).
Are there bigger issues at hand than where someone should go to the bathroom? Why is there so much controversy over such a daily simple task as going to the bathroom? Maybe the real problem is that we, as a U.S. society, have created a separation of genders in numerous social constructs where there need not be even distinction of these genders. Our beliefs have always been that there are only two genders and that with these two genders comes specific traits, behaviors, and characteristics-- that crossing the barrier of the genders by behaving what we consider to
Recently, the issue of allowing transgender people access to public facilities according to the gender they identify with has caused much debate throughout the United States. The bathroom bill seeks to control access to public facilities of transgender individuals, based on the gender they were assigned at birth. In 2015, bills were passed stating entering a bathroom not assigned to a person at birth was a crime. Surrounded by misconception, the bill does “not legalize harassment, stalking, violence, or sexual assault.” Since the bill arose, there have not been a rise in violence or other incidents in the states protecting the transgender rights (Transgender Equality). The bill simply states if one is living as a woman, to use the women’s restroom,
Transgender rights and policies have always been an ongoing debate. In the article, “Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics,” Schilt and Westbrook (2015) argued that in order to push gender equality forward, we must consider the rights of transgender people by allowing them to have access to bathrooms that support their gender identity rather than their biological sex. In doing so, authors believed that it would make progress in alleviating discrimination against transgender people. However, in this conscious effort to fight for transgender rights and their access to sex-segregated spaces,
Gender equality is a pressing issue in the United States. The definition of gender, and the rights that accompany them, is constantly being updated and adjusted. The LBGT community is fighting for equality after being repressed for many years. Because of this sudden movement, social issues are sparking outrage and debate on whether a certain law or right for LBGT people is to be initiated. In many instances, these issues dominate the media, and cause for chaos on both sides of the spectrum. The bathroom controversy exemplifies this. The LBGT community argues that anyone should be able to use whichever bathroom that matches with their identified gender. Members of the LBGT community should not be able to use whatever bathroom they please.
Recently, there have been a lot of questions regarding who can use which public restroom in regards to transgendered individuals. This became a controversial issue when North Carolina passed a law that required transgendered individuals to use the restroom that corresponded with the sex stated on their birth certificate. The U.S. Department of Education then declared this a violation of American discrimination rules and created a directive allowing transgendered individuals to use the restroom that they identify with. Transgendered individuals are human begins. They cannot help that they feel that they are in the wrong body, but that should not make people judge or discriminate
In 2016, the “toilet wars” began; some states passed legislation for transgender people to use the bathroom that correlates with the gender they identify
After listening to “Beyond Bathrooms: The Battle Over Transgender Rights” a discussion on the “1A Radio Station” it is present that the debate over gender expression and which bathroom to use is still being fought. The radio show displays four guest (Grace Dolan-Sandino a transgender female and 11th grader at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Peyton Chapman the Principal of Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon, Matt Sharp Senior counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization, and Tanya Washington a Professor of law at Georgia State University.) who all share their opinions on the topic of whether transgender people should be able to use the bathroom that matches their gender expression or not, discuss possible solutions to the problem, and share their own personal experiences on the topic. After listening to the discussions in the program I will have to agree with the side that allows people who
The effort to promote a more tolerant society has polluted America’s legislation with bills that favor the rights of minorities over the rights of the majority. One instance of such acts are the newly emerging neutral bathroom policy laws. This law, designed in favor of transgenders, establishes public bathrooms that any individual can enter regardless of their sex. While democratic liberals back these policies because it allows the LGBTQ community to use the bathroom that corresponds to their identity, the reality that results from this situation is much darker. Author Kaeley Triller realizes the consequences of allowing these neutral bathroom policies in her article: “A Rape Survivor Speaks Out About Transgender Bathrooms”, in which she, being a former victim of sexual assault, explains the dangers of such laws. She states, “I am not saying that transgender people are predators… What I am saying is that there are countless deviant men in this world who will pretend to be transgender as a means of gaining access to the people they want to exploit, namely women and children. It already happens. Just Google Jason
Imagine walking into a public bathroom and feeling not wanted by the people you call your own because of what you identify yourself as. This has now become a big controversy political debate over whether or not there should be gender neutral bathrooms in public places. This means that the “0.6% percent of U.S. adults who identify as transgender” will have their own restrooms. A number of people have expressed their concerns on the issues of this topic and the three main questions that remained is: “should transgender people use the restroom where they feel most comfortable in? and is it discrimination if they are forced to do otherwise?” “and should
The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender) community does not only face adversity in the public's eyes, but also at places where you should feel the most welcomed like home and school. Not only is having interest in the same sex becoming an issue for some, but also having legal procedures that allow you to openly express who you are as a person. Rather it's being born a male with females intentions or vice versa, this has became a public issue made towards both male and females in public restrooms. Discussions between states, former President Obama, current President Trump, school systems and people concerned about inequalities, have debated that it would be best for everyone to use the restroom according to gender at birth, meanwhile,
In past generations, it has been clear to society that males and females use segregated bathrooms. It is also known that the rate of transgender people has been growing over the past years. Transgender people constantly face troubles when using a bathroom in public. Nevertheless, as society has become more aware of the transgender population and the issues that they face, many schools have had to decide how they will respond about the issue of school bathrooms when students identify themselves as transgender. A school should be able to provide separate facilities based on sex, but must allow transgender students access to the facility which matches their gender identity.
A recent issue about transgender students has been occurring all over the United States. Whether or not transgender students should be allowed to use the bathroom at school of the sex they identify with not the sex they were born into. Everyday around the United States it is a constant source of humiliation for transgender students not being able to use the bathroom of the sex they identify with. During my interview with Ryan Foss, he said “it felt like a slap in the face,” when he was told that he could no longer use the men’s restroom at school. Over the past few years there have been more and more talk about whether or not it is against transgender students to be told they cannot use the bathroom of the sex they identify with.
The way society has viewed transgender individuals has always been seen in a negative way. They are viewed as different and because of that they are not treated the same as a heterosexual male or female. Like this restroom debate. A part of society does want to allow these individuals to go into a public restroom to which they identify themselves as, but don’t because they don’t want for example a man in a woman’s restroom. I can see why this might cause a conflict in a woman’s point of view because we will feel uncomfortable or unsafe in having a man in a woman’s restroom. That is why some people in society want these transgender individuals to go through transgender surgery and have them go through a process in which they will be fully male
An estimate from the U.S. Department of Justice states that “one in every two transgender people are sexually assaulted or abused within their lifetime.” Transgender activists claim that transgender people experience higher levels of violence and harassment, and, when using the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex are at an even greater risk. “The supposed threats that these protections pose to others are largely nonexistent; in fact, it is transgender people who are far more likely to be the target of violence than any random user of the ladies' room” (.Eisner).
Trans men and women aren’t asking for cisgender individuals to recognize the trans community as the gender they identify with, but a cry for normalcy and comfort when performing one of the most basic of human functions, urination and defecation. Something so human shouldn’t cause this amount of controversy, but this is a complicated issue because there are those who don’t understand or attempt to relate to the trans experience. One main objection of allowing access to specific bathrooms based on a person’s identifying gender, is that men or women would enter restrooms pretending to be the opposite gender as a way to take advantage of vulnerable women specifically. The issue is that the trans community understands these concerns, however, simply feeling comfortable in their own skin is what they want conservative cisgender people to understand. Trans individuals live in skin that they don’t feel comfortable and continue exist in spaces in which they aren’t welcome or appreciate. As culture is becoming more tolerant and accepting of trans individuals, those individuals are more comfortable to be themselves, the bathroom is where they should be most comfortable and now the battle is to strip that away from those
There is a big debate going on in the United States right now: Should transgender people use the bathrooms of the gender they identify as? Transgender people must be able to use the bathrooms that are for their gender. Any transgender person should use the bathroom they identify with because the sexual assault claims are lies, it will open up new thoughts about the equality for genders and sexualities, and it will help them feel more accepted while also letting them be their true selves. Giving people the ability to go in the bathroom the identity in is a significant and helpful change, while frankly helping to end prejudice and myths against transgender people and promote equality for all identities.