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The Dilemma of Transgender Bathroom Use

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The Dilemma of Transgender Bathroom Use
The Dilemma of Transgender Bathroom Use
There are many individuals who do not know about the increasingly common identity known as transgender. Transgender is a term that describes a person who identifies as the sex opposite of what is stated on their birth certificate. Also, a numerous amount of people don 't recognize the growing population of individuals who are gender-nonconforming, which means they identify themselves as neither man nor woman. To a large sum of transgender people life is the equivalent of being trapped in a cage, a cage that is your own body. They struggle daily with being reminded of the identity society labels them as and not the identity they envision themselves to be. Even within the LGBT community, they are in the shadows waiting to be noticed and trying to cry for help, but they are always silenced by the more common LGBT family. The “T” in LGBT has always been there, but it has been pushed aside until now. In 2013, the feuded debates started to arise between the Republican politician consultant behind Prop.8 Frank Schubert, conservative coalition groups, evangelical voters; and the Transgender Law Center, Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, students, and the Williams Institute Manager of Transgender Research, Jody L. Herman. The question has arisen: should it be acceptable for transgender people to use public facilities based on their gender identity? The belief discussed by the Law center, Williams Institute, and the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition and many others within the LGBT community is that Transgender individuals need a safe place to go to the restroom without fear of verbal or physical violence (Davis). All they want is to use the restroom like everyone else, but conservatives have a different opinion. They think that if they allow this to happen, it will open up the door to the possibilities of an increase number of sex crimes due to people falsely representing themselves as transgender or even confusion to those who simply



Cited: Brown, Patricia Leigh. "A Quest for a Restroom That 's Neither Men 's Room Nor Woman 's Room." The New York Times 4 March 2005. News Article. Davis, Masen. "Transgender People Need Safe Restrooms." Huffpost Gay Voices 24 June 2013. News Article. Herman, Judy L. "Gendered Restrooms and Minority Stress: The Public Regulation of Gender and its Impact on Transgender People 's Lives." Journal of Public Management & Social Policy (2013): 65-80. Peer Reviewed Journal. Marinucci, Carla. "Opponents Start Ballot Effort to Dump Transgender Law." San Francisco Gate 14 October 2013. News Article. Wetzstein, Cheryl. "California Transgender 'Bathroom Law ' One Step Closer to Ballot." The Washington Times 8 January 2014. News Article.

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