A Curious Case
A series of socially-relevant online columns
President Obama came out with a very reasonable and well thought out solution to the Transgender bathroom “controversy” a few weeks ago, and the House of Representatives was assaulted with a chorus of boos after a LGBT Rights Bill was defeated by House Republicans the other day. Yet there are a select few of us who think that this pressing human issue “doesn’t matter.”
To them, I ask, “How is this not important?” This was a major issue that engaged the majority of the population. My social media was blown up with people giving their 2 cents on the matter prior to Obama’s recommendation, of which this group of people was particularly involved in, even outspoken.
It seems to me like these people came out on losing side of the debate, and now that a verdict of a sort has been reached, this is a convenient way for them to soften the blow. The whole thing wasn’t important anyways, so what did they lose?
Well, this isn’t an issue about looking good or bad. This is an issue about how we treat people. It’s about discrimination in its most basic form: being born in a way that’s irregular.
It doesn’t matter that Transitioning people account for a very small percentage of the population, the fact that it deals with their livelihoods and how they live their lives makes it matter. Bathroom stalls might seem pretty minor, but so did bus seats, water fountains, and any other distinction between “us” and “them;” being born in a way that is acceptable and being born in a way that is unacceptable.
For a transgender person, they don’t belong anywhere. A person transitioning into woman might still look physically like a man, but that doesn’t mean they will be welcomed wholeheartedly in the men’s bathroom, unless they are with trusted friends. We are a very physical and judgmental species, and complete strangers are not very accepting, especially if you look different in any way.
A transitioning person is somewhere in between two extremes of male and female biologically, and Americans hate this. Either you are or you aren’t something, being in the process of becoming something biologically isn’t good enough. By many people’s standards, whatever you look the most like physically you should be grouped with, despite the fact that psychologically you might not be.
The bathroom is a first step into accepting these people into society. Their numbers might not be great, but the abuses they have sustained from society are.
I might not be transgender, and probability dictates that many of the people reading this article might not be, but this is an issue happening right on our front door which has captured the imagination of the country.
This issue of the bathroom might lead to widespread change about how we perceive and treat transgender people, and that is worthy of your time and respect. I cannot say the same for the majority of stuff in your facebook feed.
Mitchell Chapman 