Sanabria 1

Janelle Sanabria

English 102.04

Paper #2

Marth 29th 2021

The Right to Use Restrooms as a Transgendered Person

The discussion around transgendered people and their rights as citizens in America has

become a hot topic. From the right to safely transition, to being able to play gender specific

sports, trans people have faced waves of backlash from cisgender people. For years now, people

have been debating if trans people should be using the restroom according to their biological

gender, or their transitioning gender. Although some people find what bathroom they choose is

normal, some people are deeply concerned about it and believe that their safety is on the line.

With the creation of the Bathroom Bill in some states, which allows transgender people to use

the bathroom freely, the debate becomes more prevalent. By looking at the accumulated

evidence, transgendered people should be allowed to use public restrooms according to their

transitioning gender and not their biological.

Nondiscrimination laws, such as the bathroom bill, do not infringe on anyone’s religious

right. People who are against the bathroom bill believe that it goes against their religious rights.

However, nondiscrimination laws do not target religious groups or viewpoints. Instead, they are

used to protect the person(s) who fall under the law. People argue that businesses and workplaces

should not allow transgender people to use the restroom according to their religious beliefs. In an
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article by Elizabeth Reiner Platt, she writes “If busines owners were permitted to ignore

antidiscrimination laws based on their personal religious beliefs, they could deny a range of

goods and services to members of religious groups they consider objectionable.” (Platt). By

blatantly ignoring the antidiscrimination laws set in place due to religious reasons, It is still

discriminatory and not protected underneath religious freedom. This is a loophole often used by

people who are against trans bathroom usage and although religious right should be protected,

this is not a case where its being infringed upon.

Creating entirely separate bathrooms for transgender people is more harmful than helpful.

One solution brought up by people against the bathroom bill is to create entirely new bathrooms

for trans people to use. However, this is counterintuitive and simply avoids the entire issue. By

giving trans people a separate bathroom to use that is presumably all gender you are forcing them

away from using a restroom that is assigned to their transitioning gender, which brings about

gender dysmorphia. Even with the rise in gender neutral bathrooms in schools and workplaces,

they can be difficult to find. In an article by Anna Orso on Philadelphia city hall, she writes

“While Philadelphia has for years implemented policies aimed at improving gender neutral

bathroom access for transgender and gender non-conforming youths and adults, critics say City

Hall itself has failed to make gender neutral bathrooms truly accessible” (Orso) This is not the

only case of gender neutral restrooms being difficult to access, as most gender neutral bathrooms

are separated from the other restrooms in a separate part of the building.

Allowing trans inclusivity is not a safety risk. People have claimed that sexual predators

will abuse the policy and prey on young women or men. Despite these claims, it has been proven

that there are no records of transgender people attacking cisgender people in public restrooms.

According to an article written by CNN, “[CNN] reached out to 20 law enforcement agencies in
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states with anti-discrimination policies covering gender identity. None who answered reported

any bathroom assaults after the policies took effect.” (Grinberg, Stewart). This narrative was

created by people who opposed the bathroom bill in order to sway the government when

implementing nondiscrimination laws in their state. By creating fear and misinformation about

trans people, more concerns about the harm they will cause arises. In actuality, transgender

people are more likely to be assaulted in restrooms that align with their transitioning gender. In

that same article, CNN states, “In one of the largest surveys of transgender and non-conforming

Americans ever conducted, 70% of respondents reported being denied access, verbally harassed

or physically assaulted in public restrooms.” (Grinberg, Stewart). Trans people are more fearful

of entering public restrooms at the risk of being harassed or assaulted.

The fear of trans people is part of the problem. Those who oppose the bathroom bill are

mostly uneducated about transgender people and find their difference to them daunting. Males

more specifically find trouble in accepting transgendered people. In a study done by Rebecca J.

Stones, she found “that males were significantly more transphobic than females, and that male

violations from societal gender norms evoke stronger negative reactions than female violations.”

(Stones; 277) Transgender people are more likely to be attacked by men as opposed to women

due to the genuine fear of disrupting a societal norm. The article continues, stating “Males

dismiss the gender of transgender females. It’s an important step to arguing against bathroom

access consistent with their gender identity, after all, if transgender females are recognized as

female, why shouldn’t they use female bathrooms? Consequently, males view females as

needing protection from these ‘males’ who are willingly entering female-only spaces. This even

leads to threats of violence.” (Stones; 283). Men who happen to think this way often do not care
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about being politically correct, instead, they care more about protecting women from trans

women, who are indeed just women.

Transgendered people should be allowed to use public restrooms. The arguments made

against transgendered people are backed up by little to no evidence and are based off personal

opinions and values. While personal concerns should be addressed, people should be further

educated on what it means to be a trans person, and how damaging it is to be forced to use a

restroom they do not align with in fear of being beaten, or worse. The restriction of public

bathrooms for trans people only pushed transphobic ideologies and creates fear for trans people.

By acknowledging that trans men and trans women are men and women, we begin to normalize

their existence. Afterall, they are just trying to use the restroom.
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Works Cited

"3 myths that inform the transgender bathroom debate." CNN Wire, 8 Mar. 2017. Gale In
Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A484411647/OVIC?
u=scha51546&sid=OVIC&xid=08e60dd8. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.

Platt, Elizabeth. "Anti-Discrimination Laws Don’t Burden Religious Freedom—They Secure It |

Public Rights Private Conscience Project". Blogs.Law.Columbia.Edu, 2017,
http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/publicrightsprivateconscience/2017/10/31/scotus-
masterpiece-amicus/. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.
"Philadelphia City Hall has one gender-neutral bathroom, and it's hard to find. Under new
legislation, that would change." Philadelphia Inquirer [Philadelphia, PA], 13 June 2019.
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588842374/OVIC?
u=scha51546&sid=OVIC&xid=25332fa1. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.
Stones, Rebecca J. "Which Gender is More Concerned about Transgender Women in Female
Bathrooms?" Gender Issues, vol. 34, no. 3, 2017, pp. 275-291. ProQuest,
https://ezproxy.roosevelt.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-
com.ezproxy.roosevelt.edu:2048/scholarly-journals/which-gender-is-more-concerned-
about-transgender/docview/1925972411/se-2?accountid=28518,
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.roosevelt.edu/10.1007/s12147-016-9181-6. Accessed Mar.
25 2021.