America is supposed to be a country of equality right? A place where everyone receives “equal” opportunities, but it most situations that is not the case. In the beginning, the fight for equal rights was between White America and Black America. Black America was looked at as a group in America that was less than. It took at least 95 years for African American men to vote, and that’s not even including women. America, AKA “you can’t sit with us” has been biased and hypocritical from the beginning. Even though women and men can now vote, even become president if they want, America has been and still is exclusive. Then it was race, now it’s sexual orientation. When it comes down to the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender rights America has a lot to say. According to “Trump is right on transgender bathroom laws,” by S.E Cupp, a CNN host, and commentator, people who are transgender have the right to use the bathroom they identify with. While articles like, “Ted Cruz Doesn’t Want Any Transgender People In Any Bathroom Anywhere,” by Zack Ford, an LGBTQ Editor at ThinkProgress.org show a totally different view. Ford’s article states that Ted Cruz feels transgenders using any restroom they choose is “not appropriate, it’s not safe.” People from the ACLU would definitely disagree with Ted though. On their website, it clearly states under Transgender People and Discrimination, “No one should be denied a job, a place to live, or access to a public place or business simply because of who they are.” Even though some people understand and promote the rights of transgender people, other people like Richard A. Friedman, a professor in clinical psychiatry, question if gender is changeable, or rather how changeable it really is. When it comes to transgender rights and equality it can be a very sensitive topic, especially because of its newness and our ignorance.
As times change we are presented with new information. Coming out as transgender is becoming more and more normalized, due to public figures i.e Caitlyn Jenner. Since increased amounts of people are accepting others as transgender, the opportunity to run research has come about. After a research was done in The Journal of Neuroscience, individuals who identified as trans and wanted the sex reassignment surgery actually had structural differences in their brains ( Friedman). This is when he begins to question why people who are women feel the need to become a man and vice versa. Friedman speaks on being trans as a social convention. He writes, “why was it necessary for Caitlyn Jenner to undergo facial surgeries, take hormones and remove her body hair? The fact that some transgender individuals use hormone treatment and surgery to switch gender speaks to the inescapable biology at the heart of gender identity.” He later goes on to talk about how gender identity may exist on a spectrum. “It’s important to acknowledge that gender identity is a complex phenomenon”. It’s not just cut and dry as we think. It involves a “mix of genes, hormones and social influence.” Also, you have to “take into account that biology places constraints on our capacity to reimagine ourselves and to change, and it’s important to understand those limitations’ (Friedman). Until we actually understand the complexity of becoming transgender, or what it means to be transgender, we should not pass judgment on others. Agreeing with the ACLU transgenders have the right to be them. On a day to day basis transgenders are discriminated against, stared at, called names and mistreated the least we can do is give them the respect they deserve. It’s really simply honestly, it’s the same thing as respecting some named William who wants to be called Billy.
Where do we draw the line though? Is allowing transgender men to use the women’s restroom overdoing it? If you were Ted Cruz, you would definitely say yes. As Ford writes Ted Cruz believes that transgender people shouldn’t be allowed to use any public restroom at all. Now, come one Ted isn’t that a bit harsh. Transgenders are still people. Ted tries to justify his statement by saying that he would never want his two daughters (ages 7 and 10) to be using the same restroom as a grown man. Now he does have a point there, in Ted’s defense he doesn’t completely disagree with the lifestyle of a transgender. He says, “God has made each of us with free will and the ability to choose to do that if a man to wants to dress as a woman, and live as a woman, and have a bathroom at home.” (Ford). Trump, on the other hand, would take the conversation in a different way.
Trump feels completely opposite of Cruz, and Cupp proposes some great questions to back him up. Questions such as,” Are we going to arrest people for choosing the wrong restroom? Are we going to post a police officer outside every public restroom? Are they going to look for Adam's apples or breasts? Or will guards ask outright what a person's gender is?”
Cupp addresses the drama concerning trans men coming into the women's restroom exploiting young girls by saying it’s fabricated and over exaggerated. She goes into further detail to raise the question, what stops a non-trans man from going into the women’s restroom and doing the same exact thing? Cupp is making it seem like she’s saying it’s inevitable. . . but who knows? People go to the restroom the think is appropriate, to do just that, use the restroom. There isn’t really a right or wrong answer to the question. Again this issue is way more complex than we’re giving it credit for. One thing that all people deserve is fairness. Transgenders seem to lack the fairness that the straight part of White America seems to have.
America needs to be real with itself. We have a lot of work to do as a whole. There are still racial issues, women rights issues, and now LGBTQ+ issues. America is supposed to be home of the free, but how free can you feel when someone bashes you for the things you believe in or how you carry yourself. Being stuck in our old ways and the America of the past isn’t going to last for long. People have voices that will be heard, and they won’t stop until you listen. Discrimination against someone because of their sex is ridiculous. America, you’re uptight let’s loosen up a bit. I mean it is 2018, actually almost 2019. Things can’t stay the same forever.
People are going to love who they, be who they want, and chose the restroom they want. It’s extremely important to give everyone the same equal opportunities. I mean, that’s what makes America; America, right?
If you want America to symbolize the America that’s advertised or the America that people from other countries hear about, we’re going to have to start treating our people better.
A family that doesn’t discriminate, is a family who can come together during desperate times of need. And yes, I know this is not something that will happen overnight, but it starts with one person. Let’s be the change in America that we all have been dreaming to see.