Originally written for Newsletter V9
Part I
Transgender people have been the topic of discussion a lot throughout the last year. Even though most people have at least heard about the trans community, there is still a great deal of misinformation about them. One issue that has been repeatedly been brought up is the subject of women’s only spaces. These spaces include bathrooms, changing rooms, and a few other places that some people feel more secure when the genders are separated. Understandably, people are worried about women being able to feel safe and comfortable. We all want women to be safe, however, this concern has been used to try and frame transgender people as a potential danger to women in these spaces. Hateful people are taking advantage of good peoples’ unfamiliarity with this topic.
Let’s be clear about one thing right at the start of this conversation: it has always been illegal to assault people, no matter who does it or where they do it. Hurting another person is a crime; that is already established. Whether it is a cis (not trans) man, trans man, trans woman, cis woman, it does not matter. A person attacking another human being is against the law.
Many times, when someone is arguing that trans people need to use the bathroom or changing room of the gender they were assigned at birth, they state that it is to protect women from men coming into the bathroom and hurting them. They allege that the problem is that men may pretend to be transgender in order to enter these spaces and harm women. This reasoning implies that it is not actual trans people causing the problem, but cis men trying to take advantage. This “fake trans” argument overlooks a few important points. It already contradicts itself logically from the start. If the real issue is men pretending to be trans, how would stopping actual trans women from going into female-only spaces do anything? Trans women have been using female bathrooms and changing rooms for decades. Plus, men that want to hurt women in these areas have not been trying to dress up as women to do so. They can just walk in. They are already breaking the law, having additional laws does nothing to deter this violence, all it does is harm an already vulnerable population.
There are myriad issues that would arise if we did try and force transgender individuals to use the spaces that match the gender they were assigned at birth. Not just trans people would be affected either. For one, these policies would be nearly impossible to enforce. Would there be guards posted at every bathroom to check gender markers on IDs? What if someone did not have identification with them? Would there have to be genital inspections? That does not sound like it would make anyone feel safe or comfortable. Countless transgender people pass as the gender that they identify with, and countless cis people could be mistaken for another gender. Are we going to start policing how feminine women need to be to use their own restroom? Butch or masculine cis women could be kicked out of their own bathroom and pushed to either use the men’s room or just hold it. Small or more feminine cis men could ironically be forced into the women’s room. In the same vein, these sorts of policies would make trans men use women’s facilities. Strangely, trying to enact this type of law would be putting men into women’s only areas. This is why many of the arguments for these policies completely ignore the existence of trans men altogether.
PART II
Places like public restrooms and changing rooms are a little uncomfortable for everyone. It is natural to feel a little exposed or vulnerable. Thankfully we have already come up with a solution to make everyone as comfortable and safe as possible: stalls. People that make arguments against trans people in women’s only spaces (once again, only really targeting trans women) often try and say that it would be totally inappropriate because they do not want to see a “man’s” genitals in the women’s bathroom. We already have separate, private stalls that negate this issue. Changing rooms also have private stalls. Everyone wants privacy. Nobody wants to see other people’s private areas. That is why we have stalls in the first place.
Even without these anti-trans laws in place, many trans people fear utilizing areas such as public bathrooms or changing rooms. They do not want someone approaching them or trying to attack them for using the perceived wrong space. Just like everyone else in the world, trans people do not want to spend a ton of time in a public bathroom; they want to do their business and leave. The 2015 Transgender Survey, the largest survey of transgender and nonbinary people ever taken, found that 50% of respondents avoided public restrooms because they feared confrontation. Beyond just discomfort, holding it when having to go to the bathroom can cause illnesses like urinary tract infections and kidney problems. In the survey, 31% have reported avoiding eating or drinking while out to prevent having to use the restroom. Shockingly, 12% stated they were harassed, attacked, or sexually assaulted in a bathroom in the last year, a much higher percentage than the general population. These numbers are only going to climb as anti-trans legislation has been shown to increase the rate of attacks and violence against trans people.
In the last year alone more than 525 anti-LGBT+ bills have been introduced throughout 41 states. Of those bills, over 75 have become laws. On June 30th (ironically the last day of Pride month) the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis case that will have far-reaching, negative consequences for the LGBT+ community. This dangerous step backwards has been described by Justice Sonia Sotomayor as the first instance in the history of the Court granting “a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.” If these bills were actually interested in protecting people, this is not the way to go about it. There is zero evidence that trans inclusive policies increase the rates of physical or sexual assaults at all. Law enforcement officials in areas that have trans-inclusive policies in place have said this many times. They state that the claim that trans inclusive policies cause safety problems is not only completely false, but also absurd. Trans people are people, and people deserve to live their lives in safety and comfort, just like everyone else.
Transgender people have been the topic of discussion a lot throughout the last year. Even though most people have at least heard about the trans community, there is still a great deal of misinformation about them. One issue that has been repeatedly been brought up is the subject of women’s only spaces. These spaces include bathrooms, changing rooms, and a few other places that some people feel more secure when the genders are separated. Understandably, people are worried about women being able to feel safe and comfortable. We all want women to be safe, however, this concern has been used to try and frame transgender people as a potential danger to women in these spaces. Hateful people are taking advantage of good peoples’ unfamiliarity with this topic.
Let’s be clear about one thing right at the start of this conversation: it has always been illegal to assault people, no matter who does it or where they do it. Hurting another person is a crime; that is already established. Whether it is a cis (not trans) man, trans man, trans woman, cis woman, it does not matter. A person attacking another human being is against the law.
Many times, when someone is arguing that trans people need to use the bathroom or changing room of the gender they were assigned at birth, they state that it is to protect women from men coming into the bathroom and hurting them. They allege that the problem is that men may pretend to be transgender in order to enter these spaces and harm women. This reasoning implies that it is not actual trans people causing the problem, but cis men trying to take advantage. This “fake trans” argument overlooks a few important points. It already contradicts itself logically from the start. If the real issue is men pretending to be trans, how would stopping actual trans women from going into female-only spaces do anything? Trans women have been using female bathrooms and changing rooms for decades. Plus, men that want to hurt women in these areas have not been trying to dress up as women to do so. They can just walk in. They are already breaking the law, having additional laws does nothing to deter this violence, all it does is harm an already vulnerable population.
There are myriad issues that would arise if we did try and force transgender individuals to use the spaces that match the gender they were assigned at birth. Not just trans people would be affected either. For one, these policies would be nearly impossible to enforce. Would there be guards posted at every bathroom to check gender markers on IDs? What if someone did not have identification with them? Would there have to be genital inspections? That does not sound like it would make anyone feel safe or comfortable. Countless transgender people pass as the gender that they identify with, and countless cis people could be mistaken for another gender. Are we going to start policing how feminine women need to be to use their own restroom? Butch or masculine cis women could be kicked out of their own bathroom and pushed to either use the men’s room or just hold it. Small or more feminine cis men could ironically be forced into the women’s room. In the same vein, these sorts of policies would make trans men use women’s facilities. Strangely, trying to enact this type of law would be putting men into women’s only areas. This is why many of the arguments for these policies completely ignore the existence of trans men altogether.
PART II
Places like public restrooms and changing rooms are a little uncomfortable for everyone. It is natural to feel a little exposed or vulnerable. Thankfully we have already come up with a solution to make everyone as comfortable and safe as possible: stalls. People that make arguments against trans people in women’s only spaces (once again, only really targeting trans women) often try and say that it would be totally inappropriate because they do not want to see a “man’s” genitals in the women’s bathroom. We already have separate, private stalls that negate this issue. Changing rooms also have private stalls. Everyone wants privacy. Nobody wants to see other people’s private areas. That is why we have stalls in the first place.
Even without these anti-trans laws in place, many trans people fear utilizing areas such as public bathrooms or changing rooms. They do not want someone approaching them or trying to attack them for using the perceived wrong space. Just like everyone else in the world, trans people do not want to spend a ton of time in a public bathroom; they want to do their business and leave. The 2015 Transgender Survey, the largest survey of transgender and nonbinary people ever taken, found that 50% of respondents avoided public restrooms because they feared confrontation. Beyond just discomfort, holding it when having to go to the bathroom can cause illnesses like urinary tract infections and kidney problems. In the survey, 31% have reported avoiding eating or drinking while out to prevent having to use the restroom. Shockingly, 12% stated they were harassed, attacked, or sexually assaulted in a bathroom in the last year, a much higher percentage than the general population. These numbers are only going to climb as anti-trans legislation has been shown to increase the rate of attacks and violence against trans people.
In the last year alone more than 525 anti-LGBT+ bills have been introduced throughout 41 states. Of those bills, over 75 have become laws. On June 30th (ironically the last day of Pride month) the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis case that will have far-reaching, negative consequences for the LGBT+ community. This dangerous step backwards has been described by Justice Sonia Sotomayor as the first instance in the history of the Court granting “a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.” If these bills were actually interested in protecting people, this is not the way to go about it. There is zero evidence that trans inclusive policies increase the rates of physical or sexual assaults at all. Law enforcement officials in areas that have trans-inclusive policies in place have said this many times. They state that the claim that trans inclusive policies cause safety problems is not only completely false, but also absurd. Trans people are people, and people deserve to live their lives in safety and comfort, just like everyone else.
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