As a transgender man, there are a lot of obstacles that come in my way. One of those obstacles happens to be having an accessible bathroom that I feel safe going into.
For many cis-gender people, this is something they don’t have to think twice about because it is natural for them. As for me, when I am heading out to eat, going to a new place, or just going to my classes at the university I attend, one of the first questions I ask myself is “do they have gender-neutral bathrooms?” and if the answer is no, I have to manage the circumstance; meaning I don’t go.
Cis-gender — people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth.
So, you might be thinking that’s silly why would you just skip out on going to the bathroom. But, this is the reality for many trans people.
Why Trans People Avoid The Bathroom
From the 2015 US Transgender Survey, 27,715 transgender people were surveyed in the US and reported:
59% have avoided bathrooms in the last year because they feared confrontations in public restrooms at work, at school, or in other places.
12% report that they have been harassed, attacked, or sexually assaulted in a bathroom in the last year.
31% have avoided drinking or eating so that they did not need to use the restroom in the last year.
24% report that someone told them they were using the wrong restroom or questioned their presence in the restroom in the last year.
9% report being denied access to the appropriate restroom in the last year.
8% report having a kidney or urinary tract infection, or another kidney-related medical issue, from avoiding restrooms in the last year.
(Vox.com)
In 2016, The Gender Neutral Bathroom Law was passed by the City Council in Philadephia. Single-occupancy bathrooms in Philadelphia must have gender-neutral signage indicating anyone of any gender identity may use them. The law is enforced by the City’s Department of Licenses and Inspections. The law covers all retail establishments in Philadelphia open to the general public for the sale of goods or services. Read more about Philadelphia LGBTQ Protections.
The Bathroom Debate
The debate for gender-neutral bathrooms is ongoing. Some argue safety and space; adding these in might take away valuable classroom space, or might take money away from the school funds, which is mentioned in an article on The Pros and Cons of Gender Neutral Bathrooms on Odyssey. The biggest concern is for the safety of others specifically the argument is that if anyone can go into the bathroom and this could cause sexual assault or predators would be more likely to enter. However, there hasn’t been any evidence to prove this.
On February 22, 2017, President Donald Trump’s administration revoked protections allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms of their chosen gender identity.
All in all, the bathroom debate for transgender and gender non-conforming people is actually just about us expressing the need for having a bathroom to go in rather than have to work around it, hold it and develop a UTI or face harassment. This is truly just for safety and I need to have a bathroom in every place. I’m lucky to go to a University that has many gender-neutral bathrooms, but, they aren’t in every building which makes things more difficult.
Ivan Coyote has a TED Talk on ‘Why we need gender-neutral bathrooms’ as a trans person they talk about this topic in more depth and why it’s important for them to have a bathroom and changing room that makes them feel safe.
For more information on Gender Neutral bathrooms, visit the Trans Teen Project.
