Protect Transgender Rights
Senators in both North and South Carolina are trying to pass a bill that would require people to use the public restroom that matches their biological sex. This bill would mean that transgender people would have to use a bathroom or changing area of their birth gender, not their current gender. Transgender people in the state can request to have their birth certificate changed only if they have had gender reassignment surgery. However, many transgender people cannot afford surgery or choose not to have it.
This is preposterous. It is a step in the wrong direction because it is taking away the rights of people who are already suppressed by society. While there is no way the bill will be passed anytime soon, there are several reasons for why it should never be passed:
1. The state would not be able to monitor such a law without spending a lot of money. They would somehow need to prevent people from entering certain areas. This might require new, expensive technology or something unimaginable. Are people expected to carry around their birth certificate everywhere they go? Will the state issue cards for every single resident solely for this purpose? Why should the state invest in this bill when they have so many other issues they need to fix? Education. Fix up public schools before attacking an innocent group of people.
2. According to ABC News, “Judiciary Chairman Larry Martin supports the bill, saying he doesn’t want “cross-dressers” going into a bathroom with his granddaughters.” Transgender people are not “cross-dressers.” The people of the transgender community do not identify with the sex they were born as. Why should these people be forced to conform to one bathroom when they do not fall directly into one category? They should have the freedom to use the restroom of their choice. How is that hurting someone else? It isn’t.
It is a step in the wrong direction because it is taking away the rights of people who are already suppressed by society.
3. A simple fix to the proposed “issue” of transgender people using the bathroom would be to create unisex bathrooms. There are several businesses and franchises that already do this. The popular grocery store, Kroger, recently began posting unisex bathroom signs with a message to transphobic people. The message reads: “We have a UNISEX bathroom because sometimes gender specific toilets put others into uncomfortable situations.” It goes on to list different people who benefit from a unisex bathroom, including parents with opposite-sex children, those in the LGBTQ community, and adults with aging parents. If congressmen feel there is an issue with the current “public bathroom system,” they should start looking for a fix to these problems instead of causing more chaos.
4. According to The Washington Post, Gov. Nikki Haley said that there had been no complaints that would suggest such a bill is needed. Haley said she had not heard about any incidents involving transgender people using bathrooms or any reports of people feeling as if their religious liberties were being impeded. This bill is a literal divide in the Republican party of this state. If they cannot unite on this front, where can they work together? Presenting this bill shows that congressmen and senators within the state are not united when they present themselves to the national government. South Carolina is a weak, illegitimate state.
5. Companies are already banning against the state in protest of this bill. PayPal, the online payments firm based in California, announced that it was dropping plans to expand to Charlotte due to the law. This means the unpassed bill has already lost 400 jobs for the local economy. Speaking of another issue the state could be working on—unemployment. This bill is creating more problems than it is “fixing.”
Essentially, state government should work on things that help people, instead of hurt them.