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Federal Guidance Removes Transgender Bathroom Protections

March 6, 2017

Last night, new federal guidance regulations come down from the White House removing transgender bathroom protections. These new directions rescind the Obama-era guidance that allowed transgender students to use whichever bathroom they felt appropriate. States are now given carte-blanche to discriminate against an already vulnerable minority group.

This is, of course, preposterous.

There have been transgender and agender individuals throughout the history of our country, and they have always used whichever bathroom made them feel safe and comfortable. Furthermore, transgender people are not attacking others in these restrooms. In fact, our transgender and agender community is far more likely to be the target of these attacks. Forcing these individuals to use facilities that don’t match their identity puts a target on their backs and makes the entire situation less safe.

Please allow me a moment on my soap-box

This is a disgusting backlash to gender-neutral marriage rights. Some people are uncomfortable with efforts to expand the American franchise and allow everyone, regardless of their circumstances, to grasp the Preamble’s guarantee of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

People need to understand that time (or entropy, for all my science nerds) moves forward and xenophobic regulations will be struck down. The moral arc of justice in this country is long and bendy, but we will be propelled forward none-the-less. We will become a better and more just society because that is who we are. As Americans, as Citizens, as Humans…

We’re not going back, and all efforts to remove the past 60 years of social justice will ultimately fail. During the meantime, however, real people will be hurt and real lives will be affected. This is also something that doesn’t seem to be breaking through; transgender people are people. Real people with love and pain and joy and loss and experiences that inform their world view. What experiences are we providing for this community? Are these the experiences I would want for my own community?

These are perilous times in which we live. In a world full of grey, people will always long for the comforting simplicity of black and white. I’m honestly not sure how our society is going to handle these convulsions, but I have the audacity to hope that we will find a better future after passing through this crucible.