Transgender Restrooms; Are They Necessary
By Bob Branco
I’m sure that most of you have heard about the proposed law in North Carolina which is causing a national uproar. Legislators in that state would like to ban transgender people from using men’s and ladies’ restrooms, resulting in the creation of separate restrooms for these individuals. I believe that part of their thinking stems from the increased amount of political correctness in our society. I won’t go there right now, so I will just stick to transgender restrooms.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump and former baseball player Curt Schilling are opposed to this law, resulting in Schilling being fired from his broadcast job: yet another victim of political correctness.
I am against this proposal in North Carolina for two reasons.
First, if we allow transgender people to have their own facilities, it will cause an economic problem. It costs a lot of money to build a new restroom, and I sincerely doubt that many of these businesses would survive. Second, if someone decides to change genders, then that person should automatically assume the rights of the desired gender. If a man becomes a woman, she should be allowed to use the ladies’ room, and vice versa. In my opinion, you assume all that goes with your preferred gender.
I’m sure someone has asked, “If a business has to spend money accommodating people with physical disabilities, then why not accommodate transgenders?” The answer is simple. First of all, I’m not talking about transgenders’ rights and privileges. However, if a transgender is in a wheelchair, he won’t have physical access to the business unless there are accommodations for him to get inside. Otherwise, he has all the rights and opportunities to go about his day like any other human being, and has done so up until now, especially in North Carolina. I say, leave things as they are.
Let a transgender use the men’s room if he is now a man, and let her use the ladies’ room if she is now a female. I may sound a bit like Curt Schilling, but I am quite confident that I won’t be fired from a public job as a result of my opinion.
(Originally published in Word Matters)
