As Taro Gomi states in his famed book, “Everyone poops.” We all deserve a safe place to do so.
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Imagine you are an identified male and you walk into a women’s restroom. Likely you will be met with fear, disbelief, and perhaps even a bit of violence for being somewhere you shouldn’t be. Now imagine, after this error, you enter the men’s restroom only to be met with the same level of fear, disbelief, and perhaps violence.
This isn’t an imaginary exercise–it’s reality for many transgender and gender-variant individuals. A basic necessity, using the toilet, becomes an anxiety-inducing event.
Many don’t think twice when we are at the pool or an amusement park and see a family restroom. Family invokes a warm feeling of mothers and fathers tending to their children. What it is, though, is a place where any gender can enter and have a safe, private location to conduct bathroom business.
So when Illinois State University announced they would change the name of its ten family restrooms to gender-netural restrooms, you would think there would be no issue. They are, after all, gender neutral. Well, Fox & Friends apparently didn’t understand the logic, nor the logo.
So are they right? Is the blue and pink, half man/half woman symbol too “confusing” for the average individual to understand? Well, let’s field test that concept.
Oops, guess it wasn’t that confusing.
Here’s the rub. This piece was cued under the “P.C. Police” segment. Also, if you didn’t catch it in the second video, listen again. The co-anchor states, “Finally.” Without context of the first video, you might be duped into thinking he’s sincere. But he obviously is not.
Unfortunately for him, his words carry truth.
“Finally.”
Yes, finally transgender and gender-variant individuals–fellow human beings like each and every one of us–can have a safe place to care for a basic need. This isn’t a political correctness issue. It’s an issue of humanity. You don’t have to like a person’s choices. You don’t have to agree with a person’s choices.
You must agree that they are, in fact, human. And all humans deserve at least basic dignities. In fact, they deserve a whole lot more, but a victory in bathroom signage is a place to begin.
Excellent, less restrooms for men then, basically. Women won’t want men in there, and men won’t want to be in there and be risk being accused of anything, so, it’ll basically be a women’s only restroom. What a win…
I’m happy for trans folks and all, but I think this should also help break down that rather unreasonable fear of men you mentioned at the start of your article, which I’m all for getting rid of.
Everybody wins.
I wouldn’t have a problem with all bathrooms being gender neutral as long as they got rid of the urinals. I wouldn’t feel comfortable being in the middle of using one when a woman walked in. That’s the only issue I have with “potty parity” laws. They need to mandate “stalls” or large dividers around the urinals if they’re not replacing them.
And the critics are missing the point. It’s not a “bathroom for transgender people” or a “bathroom for trasnsexual people.” It’s a bathroom for everyone regardless of their sex/gender. It’s a bathroom for anybody and everybody. Who could be against having another bathroom handy? It’s really not a radical concept if you think about it. People of different genders use the same bathroom all the time. In fact, that’s what a “family bathroom” is – an adult and a child of different genders may be in the same bathroom at the same time. Most homes in America have gender-neutral bathrooms.… Read more »