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An Nguyen

30 November, 2016

Ms. Angulo

Period 5, AP English 11

The Limitless Boundary of Care

You have entered the restroom in order to relieve yourself. It is routine as you do your

business and clean up. Suddenly, you see a group of teenagers gang up on someone, someone

who seems to look a bit off, who may look like a certain gender, but in this time of panic, sound

like the complete opposite of their gender. You suddenly realize, he, she, they? Theyre getting

attacked. Would your help that person, despite the fact that they create a slightly apprehensive

emotion within your conscious? For many transgender and gender neutral students, that is one

situation that they often avoid. To the outside view, it is a situation that conflicts with their better

judgement. It is believed that 1.4-1.8% are transgender or nonbinary (Hoffman), yet schools do

not have the facilities to cater to this student group. This in turn, creates problems of bullying and

harassment. As such, the implementation of gender neutral bathrooms is a favorable idea in

defense of others. Although there are general fears from the public associated with the

implementation of gender-neutral bathrooms, they have proven to be of more use, and in fact

proved that they are sanctuaries for not only trans and gender neutral people, but for cisgender

groups, in turn gender neutral bathrooms should be accessible in public areas.

The idea of a person assuming a gender opposite of their own has been a long known

idea. How it reacts with the general populace, however, has been a different story. Up to 2015,

there had been no bill to allow transgender people to go to the bathroom that appeals to their
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assumed gender. Even so, several states had begun the trend beforehand, California being one of

them with the passage of AB-1266, a law that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.

Thats not to say that there was no conflict, members of a Chino Hills based organization called

Privacy For All Students (PFAS) attempted to set up a referendum to remove AB-1266 in 2014,

only to be short of votes to carry it through to the ballot (Yarbrough). North Carolina also passed

some legislation that forced Trans and genderqueer people to go to the restroom of their

biological (birth) gender. Additionally, with the rise of fame of transgender figures such as

Jasmine Jennings and Kaitlyn Jenner, as well as increasing trend of the formation of gender

neutral bathrooms in colleges starting with Yale (Banchiri), the issue of Trans-people and the

bathroom has become a growing topic of discussion, with growing backlash in the face of

change.

Many people have fears regarding transgender and gender neutral people and bathroom

usage, regardless whether or not it is a cisgender (People who identify with their birth gender.)

segregated bathroom or a gender neutral bathroom. Some fears have included the fear that such

usage of facilities would incite rape or teen sex. Furthermore, others would state that such

actions are unconstitutional, in that such cases as these are left for the state to decide in light that

no such issue is addressed in the constitution, nor the bill of rights (Matthews). Most of the

aforementioned fears, however, are not backed up by experts. In fact, statements by various law

enforcement and rape advocacies have stated the opposite, in that there are little, barring none

on events that had transgender perpetrators (Brinker). In fact, the Federal Office for Victims of

crime report that one in two transgendered people would be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

Additionally, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, only 27% of assaults are made by

strangers, the remainder are by familiar people like family members, pastors, or teachers
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(Rogers). As for constitutionality issues, that is another issue of controversy, since some view it

as an extension of the Civil rights act of 1964, and the Education amendments act of 1972 as

examples of federal involvement in what was thought to be state matters. Others see it as a

government overstepping its boundaries. Regardless, most of these counter arguments are just

unjustified fears, with only one or two reasonable points. That still does not mean however, that

the public will still be concerned about a new policy or idea.

Despite this, the idea of segregated genders has been noted to be a dated ideal. Many

people have stated that the idea of separate gender public restrooms has stemmed from the late

19th to early 20th century. In addition to the primary concern of sanitation at the time, many also

believed that it was also a move in response to having women in the workplace (Stryker).

Though, thanks to new research it has been determined that there is more to gender than whether

or not people play with building tools, or with dolls. According to biology, gender occurs on four

different levels, by chromosome (Genes that determine gender such as xy chromosomes), by

hormones, by genitals (what goes one between your pants), and by personal identity. As such,

during the development of a fetus, there may be some biological reactions that cause some of

these layers to not match up (Rogers). In turn, the use of gender segregated restrooms might

create a sense of oppression in worst cases, and rigid conformality in light cases. Adding to the

turmoil that goes on in a teenagers life, let alone a transgender one, and this could create a sense

of turmoil for the student. However, if there were gender neutral bathrooms implemented, that in

turn gives people the right to choose who they want to be in terms of gender, would humanize

both sides of personal care for cisgendered males and females, and all the while retain the

tradition of having separate bathrooms for privacy. This in turn, quells part of the publics

concerns over the use of gender neutral bathrooms and bathroom usage based on gender identity.
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Much to the publics concerns however, gender neutral bathrooms actually create a safe

environment for schools. In Everyone Poops a Los Angeles Times article, the creation of

facilities akin to gender neutral restrooms would, reduce the chances of someone ending up

alone in an out-of-the-way ladies room (Stryker). As previously noted, gender neutral

transgender youth have faced numerous events with harassment or worse. With the

implementation of gender neutral restrooms, this encourages more people to go to these

facilities, whether it may be a trans-person for safety, or a cisgender for convenience. Thus, this

would increase traffic, and in turn effectively reduce the chances of anyone, cisgender or no,

from getting raped or attacked. Thus, as a result they affect the mental health of the transgender

student community.

Gender neutral bathrooms are beneficial to schools pertaining to the fact that they could

help improve overall mental health. Beemyn, Sausa, and other research agencies such as the

National Center for Biotechnology all have a general consensus that gender neutral restrooms

would provide ways to safely express gender identity. There had been one case in which one

Michigan student ended up having to go to the hospital for a kidney infection, after a prolonged

amount of time avoiding gender segregated bathrooms in campus fear either resentment, or

punishment (Tannehill). In a school environment, there have been many cases of harassment and

torment at a time where students are starting to develop their sexuality and gender identity. The

results of little to no action are disturbing. Half of transgender students will have committed, or

have attempted suicide by age 20 (Rogers). Thus, gender neutral bathrooms would help

acknowledge to the transgender and non binary student community that their needs are being

addressed, and they have no reason to fear any resentment.

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The debate on whether or not the government should step in to implement gender neutral

bathrooms and let people choose the appropriate facilities based on gender identities is still a

hotly contested decision. Regardless, the implementation of gender neutral bathrooms would

provide a sense of freedom and safety for transgender, non-binary, and cisgender groups. And if

such an idea is ahead of its time, these restrooms should at least be mandated to be implemented

in federal buildings. Still, returning back to that fateful fight in the restroom, what are the bounds

that a society can accommodate to a person, how far would one go to help someone else, and

should people be labeled so quickly and be treated based on that label?

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Works Cited

Banchiri, Bamzi. "Yale introduces gender-neutral bathrooms: A college trend? " Christian

Science Monitor. 21 May. 2016: n/a. eLibrary. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Beemyn, Brett Genny. Making Campuses More Inclusive of Transgender Students. Journal of

Gay &Amp; Lesbian Issues in Education, vol. 3, no. 1, 2005, pp. 7787.

doi:10.1300/j367v03n01_08.

"Gender-neutral restrooms could be the answer." Tennessean; Nashville, Tenn.. 02 May. 2016:

B2. eLibrary. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Gender-Nonconforming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: School Victimization

and Young Adult Psychosocial Adjustment. National Center for Biotechnology

Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20822214.

Hoffman, Jan. "As Attention Grows, Transgender Childrens Numbers Are Elusive." The New

York Times. The New York Times, 17 May 2016. Web. 09 Dec. 2016.

Jeffreys, Sheila. The Politics of the Toilet: A Feminist Response to the Campaign to Degender

a Women's Space. Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 45, 2014, pp. 4251.

doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2014.05.003.

Sausa, Lydia A. Translating Research into Practice: Trans Youth Recommendations for

Improving School Systems. Journal of Gay &Amp; Lesbian Issues in Education, vol. 3,

no. 1, 2005, pp. 1528. doi:10.1300/j367v03n01_04.

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Sausa, Lydia A. Updating College and University Campus Policies. Journal of Lesbian

Studies, vol. 6, no. 3-4, 2002, pp. 4355. doi:10.1300/j155v06n03_05.

Stryker, Susan. "Why 'gender neutral' is a better way to pee; No one should be stigmatized or

criminalized when they answer nature's call.." Los Angeles Times. 01 May. 2016: A21.

eLibrary. Web. 28 Oct. 2016

Tannehill, Brynn. "Debunking Bathroom Myths." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com,

28 Nov. 2015. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

Yarbrough, Beau. Transgender Referendum Supporters Fail to Collect Enough Signatures.

Inland Valley Daily Bullatin, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin , 2014,

www.dailybulletin.com/social-affairs/20140224/transgender-referendum-supporters-fail

o-collect-enough-signatures.

Yarbrough, Beau. With Obamas Transgender Student Directive, Nations Schools Catch up to

California. The Sun, The Sun, 2016,

www.sbsun.com/social-affairs/20160513/with-obamas-transgender-student-directive-

nations-schools-catch-up-to-california.