The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Future President,

This past March a bathroom law was adopted in North Carolina which seemed to have everyone, including me, in a large debate. As a person with a transgender friend, I would like to explain to you my views and a solution I have. We must address this because it is becoming a life threatening issue and we have start rethinking our bathroom layouts.

A fear that some have is the idea that a pervert could abuse the transgender policy and use it to sneak into the other sex’s bathroom. One cannot deny this possibility, however this type of behavior already occurs and we have laws against it. If someone were to do something explicit in the bathroom, there are punishments no matter their gender. And if a person is concerned a transgender person would fake their transition just to get into the opposite gender’s bathroom to doing something graphic, I would like to pose to them one question. Do you honestly think someone would go through all the bullying and sexual harassment that they do just in order to do something perverse in the restroom? I don’t believe they would. Therefore I think we have blown this issue way out of proportion and we should let the laws decide the course of action we should take with the people who would abuse the policy.

I disagree completely with the idea that we should force people into bathrooms they don’t feel comfortable. Transgender people already have to deal with so much, including the fact that 97% of transgender people are mistreated at work and three out of four transgender people experience sexual harassment. They have to face so much opposition all the time and have to overcome so many barriers that only half of them make it to the age of 20 because they have committed suicide. Things like the bathroom bill make a normal life much harder to achieve because you are constantly being told you can’t use a basic necessity based on what gender you identify with.

My solution for this ongoing issue is simple. Instead of forcing transgender people into their biological sex’s bathroom or into a unisex restroom where they are ostracized and made an easier target for bullying, let’s make separate, single roomed bathrooms for people who can’t accept the idea of a transgender person in their restroom. It's easy and affordable since most public buildings already have multiple restrooms, all we would have to do is move the bathroom signs around to accommodate the law. This way transgender people can use the restroom they feel most comfortable in and people against it, or even agender people can use a single stall bathroom if they don't feel safe.

The bathroom policy is a violation of the anti-discriminatory laws we have set because it forces people to go into unisex restrooms or restrooms based on their biological sex, which makes it easier to single them out and bully them. I encourage you to help them out and add a new, single stall bathroom. That way everyone can go to the bathroom at peace.

Sincerely,

Nicole M