Jena Rubino
Aug 29, 2017 · 2 min read

The blatant issue with this article is marginalizing the oppression of transgender individuals. Yes, obviously cisgender females are also oppressed in our patriarchal society; however, this is not at all relevant to the issue at hand. The claim that trans* women are INVADING female bathrooms is alarmingly segregating, this promotes the imbalance of social justice. It is crucial to understand that trans* women (M to F) are WOMEN who were assigned a different gender at birth, and they are not hurting anyone by simply using a restroom that corresponds to that identified gender. Do you question the genitalia of the person using the stall next to you? Also, do you think that just because a trans* woman has different biological anatomy than you they will violate you in some way? Trans* individuals are actually at a higher risk for violence perpetuated AGAINST them.. Also every time the statistic “3% of the population” is used to belittle the suffering of the trans* community, it prompts this question: why is the exact population measure of trans* individuals so significant? A human is a human period. Humans should be protected by civil rights, because trans* rights are human rights.

Hypothetically, if an American traveled to live in another country where the percentage of Americans was 3% and they were denied basic rights, would this percentage still matter? Or would you choose to fight and repeal the discriminatory laws of that country? These sound like rhetorical questions but there clearly remains a huge chunk of our society who remain ignorant to this social justice issue.

Also in regards to censuring the use of reproductive language around trans* women, this discussion topic may also be triggering for cisgender women who cannot physically carry a pregnancy to term. Wouldn’t you choose to hold your tongue from this topic if it were your best friend who was unable to get pregnant? Also, perhaps the people around you are just associating women with vaginas and men with penises. This is not always the case, it doesn’t matter what genitalia you were born with (a penis, a vagina, intersex), and everyone has the right to reveal their true identity to society. Gender is in the brain, not anywhere else.

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    Jena Rubino

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