[ot-caption title=”The conflict of gender identity and bathrooms has resurfaced as a result of the controversy of the HB2 bill in North Carolina. (via Ted Eytan, Flickr)”]

On March 23 of 2016, Pat McCrory, Governor of North Carolina, ignited an uproar in signing the HB2 bill, a bill stating that everyone must use the bathroom of the gender listed on his or her birth certificate. In addition, the bill ensures that local governments cannot overturn state laws, even ones that may be discriminatory in nature.

One might ask, what is the purpose of this law? Well, according to Governor McCrory, such a bill will work to diminish and prevent issues of sexual assault and pedophilia. The Governor would argue, for example, that a man posing as a transgender woman (biologically a male, but a female in terms of gender identity) could enter a women’s bathroom and rape a woman or a younger girl. Many people stand with the Governor on this issue. However, there have been no reported instances of such a situation. The Huffington Post further deflates this argument by saying that the opposition argues this “as though rapists have just been waiting for such a law to make it easier to rape.”

Those who want to eliminate controversy and discomfort for those with different gender identities propose gender neutral bathrooms. This idea seems to be spreading, as over 150 colleges have made the transition to these all inclusive restrooms. This way, a person who identifies differently than his or her biological gender does not face discrimination in entering his or her bathroom of choice. The argument against gender neutral bathrooms has less to do with the transgender population and more to do with the 293,000 sexual assaults that occur each year. This issue, however, is much larger and more prevalent than solely within bathrooms. Those who want to sexually assault people in bathrooms will do so whether they are allowed in or not. If anything, one could argue that if a male were to attempt to sexually assault a woman in a bathroom, another male might be standing by ready to fend him off.

With the advocacy for gender neutral bathrooms comes a valid concern for privacy. However, privacy does not have to be sacrificed, and this concern can be put to rest with the requirement of individual stalls and blocked off showers/changing areas, as opposed to one big, open space.

The American culture may be at fault for bringing about this issue of hatred and judgement. Junior Sabine Katsoulos explains, “In other places, such as specific European countries, there are no such debates. Bathrooms are bathrooms; you enter, you do your business, and you leave. No matter your biological sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, everyone uses the same bathroom. There is nothing complicated about it. Here in the United States people take these simple situations, like going to the bathroom, and blow them up into unnecessary controversies.”

These prototypes and ideas we have about how men and women should act, dress, talk, think, walk, and blink are all based off of societal-set norms for gender roles. But who are we to tell people who or what they should be? Who are we to say that these “norms” provide for the best lifestyle? You cannot pick and choose which of the people’s rights you want to defend and which you want to deny. Seventy percent of transgenders claim they have received hostile responses when they have tried to enter certain gender-specific bathrooms. Just 50 years ago, we were telling African-Americans what bathrooms they could and couldn’t use, and 20 years prior to that, the Nazis were telling the Jews what they could and couldn’t do before they sent them off to be killed. How many times does history have to repeat itself before we learn that there is no superior race, gender, religion, etc? Let’s not wait another 20 years to realize what we are doing is wrong.

In a USA Today article Nick Adams was quoted saying, “’Your biological sex is made up of a combination of things including your sexual chromosomes, the hormones in your body and secondary sex characteristics. But gender identity is completely internal, it’s not visible to others. It’s the internal sense of yourself as a man or woman.’”

We, as a nation, are willing to protect the people’s right to own guns, but not the people’s right to take on the gender role they prefer, or even to reject any gender role at all. We look at other countries, typically underdeveloped ones, and criticize their horrid ideals and belief systems. We wonder, how dare they force young girls to get married to older men? But it is easy to overlook your own moral mistakes while criticizing those of others. In reality, there is not a huge difference between telling someone what gender role to play or what sexual orientation to take on and marrying off a young girl without her consent. In both scenarios we are telling them that they have to follow the path society has laid out for them.

In this country, 41% of transgender men and women have attempted to commit suicide. Many transgender people walk around every day sensing the stigma surrounding their being. We need to check our moral compasses, band together, and make a bigger effort to change the situation. We must let the North Carolina bill be the impetus for us to voice our thoughts and stick up for those whose rights are being violated.

Sources: ABC, transwellness, Huffington Post, CNN, Fortune, Washington Post, USA Today, LA time, Socalewge, Wikipedia, RAINN

Link to photo: Ted Eytan (Modified by Type One)