Dear Bathroom Bill Supporters: Turns out you’re not scared of trans people, just criminals.

The logic against letting transgender people use whatever bathroom they want is that this will allow men (or boys) to dress up as women and go assault you, or your daughter or your wife, right?

Ok, so there are a lot of problems with this logic. Here are a few:

1. A man wearing women’s clothing IS NOT TRANSGENDER NOR A CRIMINAL. He is a man wearing women’s clothing, or a cross-dresser.
2. A man wearing women’s clothing who sexually assaults someone in a bathroom is A CRIMINAL and is still NOT TRANSGENDER.
3. Sexual assault is a crime. This bathroom bill (#HB2) changes nothing about that.
4. Some percentage of people in the world are capable of committing sexual assault. This bathroom bill changes nothing about that percentage.
5. Some of those people will choose to break the law and sexually assault another person. This bathroom bill changes nothing about that.
6. The only thing this bathroom bill does is prevent TRANSGENDER people from using the bathroom that makes them feel safest.

Given that, if you are still against allowing trans folks to use the bathroom they want, you must either believe that:

1. Non-transgender people (or cisgender people) will take advantage of the situation in order to commit sexual assault.
2. OR, that transgender people as a whole are more likely to commit sexual assault than cisgender people.

If you believe number 1, then you should understand that you are scared of CRIMINALS, not transgender people. And it’s not fair to punish transgender people by forcing them into unsafe situations, just because criminals exist in the world.

If you believe number 2, read this article and then answer these questions for me:

1. Do you also believe that gay men are more likely to molest children and should not be allowed to raise kids?
2. Did you used to believe that gay men were more likely to molest children and should not be allowed to raise kids?

If yes to number 1, please reply to this article with your name so that I can make sure to avoid you for the rest of my life.

If yes to number 2, there’s hope. What changed your mind? Was it meeting someone who is gay and realizing that, like stars in US Weekly, they’re just like us? Maybe you don’t know any trans people and have no real-life experiences with them to counter your fear.

If that’s the case, reply to this and we can have a conversation. And after talking with a real-life trans person, you can decide if you’re still going to let your fear control you.

If you want to understand the backstory of where this article came from, check it out here.