I’ve been seeing a lot of
posts on Facebook about transgender people wanting to use the restroom for the
gender they believe they are, rather than the one they are born as.
Just allow me to say that I
have nothing against transgender people. Everyone I’ve ever met has been kind
and considerate.
Having said that, I do have
problems with sharing the bathroom with them. My problem isn’t so much
transgender people as it is the abusers who would take advantage of such a
situation by pretending to be transgender to gain access to potential victims.
I say this from two
perspectives:
1) As an adult
survivor of childhood sexual, physical, & emotional abuse
2) As a parent
Being a survivor of abuse, I
understand the emotional damage just one incident can cause.
As a parent, I find it
frightening that an abuser would use a situation like this to target a child.
When my son was younger and needed the restroom in public, I’d stand nearby
ready to rush in if needed. At times I felt like I was “stalking” the men’s
room even though I knew I was just being a good parent. Thankfully, nothing
ever happened. However, I shudder to think what could happen to innocent
children when transgenders are allowed to use the restroom of their emotional
gender rather than their birth gender. I don’t blame them for wanting to be
safe, but I do blame the bullies and perverts for making this whole discussion
necessary.
In locker rooms there’s also
the issue of making someone uncomfortable. I know I would not feel comfortable
changing clothes in front of a man or taking a shower after working out, etc.
It seems to me that the best
and simplest way to solve this is to make single stall gender neutral bathrooms
and changing rooms available in addition
to the regular men’s and women’s versions. This way transgenders have a safe
space to do what they need without infringing on someone else’s rights and
abusers have no reason to enter the restroom of “their” choice.
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