RE: Transgender Bathroom Rights are going to the Supreme Court
I do not think that transgenders should be permitted to use bathrooms simply because they identify with the gender on the door.
Perhaps when speaking of post-op transsexuals it is another matter. But, there is a reason that there is a different bathroom for men/boys and women/girls.
In today's society, the overwhelming majority of people do not feel comfortable going to the toilet with members of the opposite sex, or those who have different sexual organs to their own. There are plenty out there who have enough of a problem doing so even with people of the same sex.
Perhaps it is not ideal that so many people feel uncomfortable with this, but the fact remains that they do. So, is it fair that a transgender should be permitted to use a bathroom with others who possess different genitals, knowing that it may potentially make a lot of people feel comfortable, all so that they might avoid any discomfort of their own by using the same bathroom as people who do share the same sexual organs?
A willingness to cause discomfort for many, so that one can escape the feeling of discomfort themself, is selfish whichever way you look at it.
Now I do not want to be misinterpreted here. I do not have anything against transgenders. If you are not hurting anyone, then in my opinion, you can live how you want to live and should be accepted for who you are.
But, allowing someone to use a bathroom that is not meant for their physical sex, knowing that it may cause discomfort for many people, is not tolerance. It's lunacy.
This is my opinion on the matter at least. I think it's a very complicated issue, and I feel that whatever resolution is met, there are going to be people disappointed regardless.
This could all be avoided if people just felt comfortable in a bathroom with anyone else, regardless of gender.. But, we live in a world where insecurity is promoted, so I don't see that happening any time soon.
While I can understand where you're coming from, I do disagree.
To start, when people, cis or trans, use the restroom, they are not publically showing their genitals. In either case of a transperson (male to female or female to male) they are using a stall, which I can not remember the last time I even saw one that wasn't private with a door. Anybody that is 'peeking' into another stall to see someone else's genitals is breaking already existing privacy laws, which really are unrelated to somebody being transgender or not and is not a part of this case to be decided.
Furthermore, if a transman were to use the women's restroom or a transwoman were to use a men's restroom (which you stated as your preference) it would cause just as much (if not more) discomfort. For example this transperson:
would be going into the women's room or this transwoman:
going into the men's room to be any more useful.
Having people like pictured above walk in to the bathroom that matches their birth certificate or current genitalia really doesn't help (probably hurting further) with anyone's comfort factor. Only about 33% of transpeople have sexual reassignment surgery (SRS), with many without it being completely passable to the general public. I suspect the bigger issue people have is instead when a transperson isn't passable, which having SRS or not is irrelevant.
So we've already established that genitalia aren't being put on public display and what remains is the unsubstantiated fear of what transpeople might do outside of simply using the restroom. This fear is quite similar to the arguments during african-american civil rights discussions that suggested the need for "protection of white women from black male rapists.
Quoting historian Lisa Lindquist-Dorr:
In the end, while I can truly understand where the 'uncomfortable' feelings stem from, with it being outside of their expected norm, it's not a good enough reason to deny equal rights, which goes beyond the bathroom issue into areas such as employment and housing. Much like african-americans that were demonized with mythical fears of 'white women being raped by black men,' the trans community is portrayed as 'flaunting their genitalia in public' or being sexual predators, which just isn't true.
A portion of the population being uncomfortable (and there are just as many people who are comfortable) just isn't a good enough argument in my mind to deny transgender people access to use the bathroom they identify with, while breaking no laws on privacy, assault, etc. Much like acceptance has grown for the LGB community as straight people found members that were friends or family, we will see the same pattern with the trans community as they start to come out. Besides, just about everybody has already used a bathroom with a transgender person and never known it.
I'm happy to agree to disagree with you, with this being my perception of the issue. Thank you for being civil in providing your opinion on it.
I was not implying that it is a fear of a transgender flashing their genitals, or even accidentally catching sight of opposing sexual organs that causes the discomfort for most.
I would say that is is the fear of having their own genitals exposed which is the cause of unsettlement for most, which is a likely scenario when speaking of a male bathroom at least.
Your images make a valid point though. They are very convincing. I would say the transgender in the second image you shared is actually quite attractive.
I can imagine the awkwardness that could emerge with those examples using bathrooms specified for their natural sex.
I can understand where you're coming from regarding the men's room, but I really see it being irrelevant since it's the same reaction to others in there being cis or transmen. Also, it's rather rare for a transman to be using the urinal anyway, since an even smaller percentage of them (compared to transwomen) choose to have 'bottom surgery.' Most of the time they would be using the stalls anyway.
I really see the 'uncomfortable' feelings in these situations having anything to do with transgender people.
I truly believe that as people meet and get to know transpeople, the concerns will lessen. But there is somewhat a catch-22 right now where many transpeople feel they need to be 'stealth' (passable and not let any others know) for their own comfort or safety with social (or worse) backlash being possible. I'm not faulting anyone for the feelings of being uncomfortable of something new/unknown, but to me that needs to be combated with awareness and learning.