Why Gender Neutral Restrooms Are A Controversy

Most don’t explicitly look into the complexity of a transgender person’s life and all the questions or problems one might face: Do I use the men’s or the women’s bathroom? Is it appropriate to use this locker room? Those are only two of the many questions a transgender person might run into on a daily basis because of how others would see the situation, how the people who may have a sneaking suspicion that the woman they saw go into the ladies’ bathroom isn’t actually female by their definition, or how it could also seem strange to see that same person go into the mens’ bathroom. These all lead to dysphoria in any person’s situation in public places due to the fact that many choose to taunt or mock the person; however, with the help of Title IX these questions could start to vanish from the thoughts of many transgender students which Blad exemplifies with a quote in her article:

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,

I feel that the gender-neutral bathrooms in schools are not a very good idea because as a woman I feel that not a very common or safe idea. I would not feel safe because I do not want to share a bathroom with men. One thing that could happen in the gender-neutral bathrooms is sexual assault. Women and girls are the number one victims in these cases of sexual assault. I also feel that I do not have my personal or private place to use anymore. By adding the males in the females and females to males, gives us both the feeling of los-ing our privacy of a girl and a guy to do what we need to in the bathrooms. I feel that having separate bathrooms will help with the safety issues of the males walking into a fe-male bathroom and vice versa. Overall,

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,

It is a known fact that both men and women use the restroom. What many are not aware of, is that using the toilet in public areas reinforces the differences between male and female. For instance, the very first thing any individual sees when entering a public restroom is the little dolls of a man or a woman as an indication of a female restrooms and or the male restrooms. This simple sign reaffirms the sexual differences of gender and also unconsciously the individual’s identity for that matter. The concept of gender neutral bathrooms is to break the imaginary wall of gender separation thus allowing either sex to use one single restroom. If we think about it, in our home we share one restroom, and are pretty much accepting of the fact that we all use the toilet. The book states that gender salience is the relation of gender across activities and spaces. The book further discusses that when teachers would place children alphabetically versus by gender the importance of gender reduced. Gender is a persistent element in any school. The concept is simple when it boils down to education the main purpose is to place the students together by groups of the ones that are getting the material and are able to proceed to the next or placing them in a group of students that need more time grasping the given material and curriculum. Although gender salience is like a roller coaster in different parts of the elementary school experience the flow of gender is a persistent element in education. Gendered bathrooms, as previously discussed reinforces the differences between male and female. Back in the Victorian era, they created restrooms for women with a special room that had a resting area before entering the section in which the restrooms were located. This was primary because back then it was not lady like to dispose bodily fluids. They believe that women should keep such matters private, and it was pretty much unheard of for women to even use the restrooms the way it is indented. Till this day many women restrooms still have a resting area before entering the restroom section. Bathrooms are designed with an assumption that everyone is heterosexual. Thus not allowing the possibility of that many individuals don’t

Here in Canada, this issue has been brought forward in both communities and provincial level of concerns. To take a look closer to home, the city of Toronto had witnessed the complexity of this issue in the past years. A Toronto transgender teen who identifies as a male, was banned from using his high school boys restroom, and was forced to leave school grounds and search for a public bathroom at a gas station. Concerns were mentioned for the safety of Spencer, and also how he felt uncomfortable being forced to use the women’s restroom; however, several parents and students agreed with how the school was taking action to this problem. After a petition was enacted by fellow supportive students, Spencer was allowed to freely use the restrooms at his high school.

The changing norms of the generation has brought upon commotion between various states because of the presidents judgement. The transgender bathroom policy allows transgender students to use the bathroom they identify as and not by the sex on their birth certificate (Fox News, 2016). The transgender bathroom policy has both successes and failure to ensure safety for transgender students resulting to its change being for not only trans-gender. Gender neutral bathrooms allows safety for those who are not only transgender, but also a part of the LGBTQ community, etc. but it causes a conflict with gender segregation. Adding additional bathrooms to suite other gender preferences costs more money and not everyone is going to accept what they walk into the bathroom and see. The gender neutral bathroom policy should be taken off of hold and be put into action because everything is constantly changing and those who do not identify as the sex they were assigned at birth are at risk for harm.

These kind of people want to and will try to make someone’s life as hard as possible simply because they see this subject differently. The simple, daily task of using the bathroom is a breeze for any typical person. Unfortunately, this task comes across as a intimidating adversary to a trans person simply because one can be conflicted with which restroom to use. For many trans people, entering a gender-specific bathroom can be a source of stress and anxiety, because using the restroom can mean very real health and safety concerns. Harassment of trans people in and around gender-specific bathrooms can range from denial of use to police intervention to verbal threats and physical assault.

When approaching public restrooms, most look at the gender on the door that associates with their own gender. However, some stare at those labels wondering which one they belong in. These types of people are often referred to as transgenders. Transgenders are people who identify themselves with the opposite gender of their biological sex. Therefore, for this category of people, entering a restroom is not so easy. They often wonder whether they should go into the bathroom of their biological sex or of their gender identity. The debate has spread throughout America today. Transgender bathrooms have been discussed in politics, education, and even criminal cases. Both sides of the debate offer valid evidence to support their claims. The only compensation

In the article “When the Gender Boxes Don’t Fit” by Ericka Sokolower-Shain I found myself a little disagreed. I am all about equality for all, and everyone should feel comfortable in their own skin. I agree with the writer that “gender doesn’t have to be so black and white” (Sokolower-Shain, 2009, pg. 34). The whole conflict this person came across within the whole bathroom discussion I felt fully on their side, and it was something I would support, gender neutral bathrooms. But then I thought about myself, I won’t feel comfortable about entering a bathroom with men in there. I don’t know if that messes with my beliefs on equality but the thought of it did make me uncomfortable. I think if I was asked to sign

The U.S. federal government is backing the issue of gender neutral bathrooms. As Lisa Rein, publisher of an article in The Washington Post, writes, “The federal government is strongly urging employers to give transgender employees access to bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, marking a new policy front in the fast-moving campaign for transgender equality” (Rein). Rein argues that bathrooms need to be made neutral, as it discriminates members of the LBGT community. Essentially, she argues throughout her article that emotional issues are the biggest reason to allow this. She states, “Among the many forms of discrimination advocates for transgender men and women say they face on the job,

can be a bad idea. The reason for this is because we already have enough problems with people like the sex offender and the pedophiles, who target these areas to attack their victims. An article from SoCawlage, that talked about the creation of neutral gender bathroom and its effect, it stated about the neutral gender bathroom the following: " [h]erein lies the biggest danger with neutral bathrooms a potential for more sexual assault, and certainly more harassment ". This mean that for the good of the people and their security, the prohibition of neutral bathroom will help to avoid the rapes and

According to Lopez (2016), minority groups are more likely to report favorable on the issues of transgender people. Some people may be concern with the safety concept accompanying the fact that a biological man who is now a woman uses the female restrooms. The gender neutral public restrooms are a solution to these types of viewpoints because there will be more individualize restrooms with privacy.

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.

Gender-neutral bathrooms are needed all around the nation. Gender-Neutral bathroom can help and protect the transgender community who is recently battling against the government in Mississippi, Arizona and North Carolina. The transgender community has been suffering from discrimination and violence; Different bills added in different states which is only protecting some; those who do not belong to the LGBT community while the violence and stereotypes against transgender people continue. On March 23 a house bill was passed in North Carolina; House bill 2 which articulates that an employee cannot sue the employer if he/she was fired because of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, handicap, sex orientation and/or biological sex. This bill also states