Dear Mr. or Mrs. President,
Transgender discrimination is very common in today’s society, especially in bathrooms. Many people believe the trans community should have to use the bathroom matching the gender on their birth certificate, or the family bathrooms. Transgender people should be free to use the bathroom they are most comfortable in.
A study in June of 2016 shows that only 0.6% of adults in the U.S. are transgender (stated by Bill Chappell from NPR), which is a small amount. That’s about 1.4 million out of 325 million people, which means that’s 7 out of 1,625 people. As you can tell, there really aren’t very many openly transgenders in the U.S., so it shouldn’t be as big of a problem as it’s portrayed.
The thing is, it’s just a bathroom. As Natalie Stastny (from the article “As Transgender Teens Struggle, Here’s How One Kentucky School Leads The Way” on PBS.org) states, “It’s just going to the bathroom. You go do your business, then you wash your hands, and then leave. It’s just simple”. What she says is true, the bathroom is just the bathroom. Everyone goes in for the same reason, so why are people overreacting so much? Not everywhere has a family bathroom, so that just isn’t fair if they aren’t allowed in any bathrooms.
The thing I’m curious about, is what about the other genders? So far, there are over 100 gender identities, including trans. Can someone who identifies as neither male or female or someone whose gender changes depending on the day use any bathroom? It’s pointless to control who goes into a bathroom when it’s just a bathroom.
In the end, transgenders should be allowed to use the bathroom they are most comfortable in. After all, it is just a bathroom. If we give them bathroom freedom, it is a step closer to ending discrimination based solely on gender.
Chappell, Bill. "1.4 Million Adults Identify As Transgender In America, Study Says." NPR. NPR, 30 June 2016. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
Qureshi, Yasmeen. "As Transgender Teens Struggle, Here’s How One Kentucky School Leads the Way." PBS. PBS, 07 June 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.
"U.S. Population (LIVE)." U.S. Population (2016). N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
