Living in a country where sexuality has taken up a majority of our arguments has made today a constant argument. Transgender people have taken up 1.4 million people in the United States, and still growing. The biggest issue that they are at face with is bathrooms. A majority (53%) of Americans oppose laws that would require transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to their sex at birth than their current gender identity (Cox and Jones). Putting it in context, a man should not be allowed into a woman’s bathroom and a woman should not be allowed into a man’s bathroom. In today’s time we not only have transgenders but we have “creepers”.Imagine a female taking her daughter to the bathroom, she walks in only to see a man dressed up as a woman walking in behind her. He’s not there to use the restroom, but only to follow the two ladies into the only place they truly know privacy. Some people would argue this but we truly do not think about the “if” when we should. Danger is coming more natural to the U.S. and we should seek ways to stand clear of it. We should not have to ponder upon what “gender” people assume themselves, we should feel safe in any area of privacy without these thoughts going through our head.
How does one suddenly “feel” like a male or female and it be okay for them to be allowed in the bathroom that they feel they are? Nearly 0.3% of the population is transgender that means we have to protect the other 99.7% of them from sexual assault, sex with minors, or even molestation (Vliet). Through the articles we read on social media, all we see is the discomfort and nervousness that transgender people feel when entering a bathroom. What about the other part of the population that is having to forcefully hand over their privacy for people that are not the same gender. Throughout America students spend a majority of their time in dorm bathrooms naked or exposed. Whether it be stalls, showers or whatever else, there will be plenty of opportunity for students privacy to be violated by the opposite sex (“The Case Against Fully Shifting To Gender Neutral Bathrooms”). Considering a majority of the population is not a trans person we should realize that they are at fault also.
The argument today is that transgender people are bullied and spoke down to because they want to take on the opposite sex than the one that they were born with. It’s said that trans people have a uncomfortable or nervous feeling when they enter a bathroom. They state that they experience stress and hypervigilance whenever they enter a restroom,and also describe routines of scanning the bathroom to see who’s in there and who’s not. Sometimes they sit in a stall and wait for everyone to leave the bathroom before they come out (Quora). These statistics are debatable because yes all this is very wrong and they should not have to go through all of this just to use the restroom, but this is a prime example on why they should have to go in the bathroom that they were made to go into If they would it will help not only their self esteem so that they aren’t the “odd ball” anymore, but it will also help the people around them feel more comfortable with going into the bathroom that they know they should use.
Throughout history gays and trans people have became a “normal” to humanity but it’s been in the 21st century that transgender people have been at an all time high. The reasons behind this is more than likely because our younger generations have witnessed through television and social media the new normal for the United States. Through the 20th century transgender people were at a low percent only to be brought up through the 70’s hippie generation, but it was lowered back down in the 80’s as the gay male community was decimated by the AIDS epidemic (Morris). Yet after these phases gay marriage was accepted in the early 1990’s (Thompson).
Now that Transgender bathrooms are ultimately a huge issue in the United States and there is really no way of pleasing everyone with an outcome. Transgender people should feel comfortable using the restroom and also the people around them should feel the same. Having transgender bathrooms and locker rooms will only cause more conflict within American people considering only 30% of people agree with sharing a bathroom it would only be right for them to use the gender that they were born with (Cox and Jones). I agree with Cox and Jones because the American people will never be okay with a man dressing up as a women or changing his natural body parts to be able to use the same bathroom as normal people.