Students discuss pros, cons of transgender bathroom directive
In this Thursday, May 12, 2016 file photo, signage is seen outside a restroom at 21c Museum Hotel in Durham, N.C. Ten states sued the federal government Friday, July 8, 2016 over rules requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms conforming to their gender identity, joining a dozen other states in the latest fight over LGBT rights. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)
The Obama administration on Friday, May 13, 2016, released guidelines that require public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker facilities of the gender they identify with. (Toby Talbot, Associated Press)
FILE - In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 file photo, a crowd in the hall listens to testimony during a Senate subcommittee to consider the controversial bill that would ban transgender people from choosing the bathroom they use in Columbia, S.C. (Tim Dominick/The State via AP) ALL LOCAL MEDIA OUT, (TV, ONLINE, PRINT); MANDATORY CREDIT
This Monday, Aug. 11, 2015, photo shows a Target store in Miami. Consumer backlash is growing against Target'?s stance on what type of bathrooms its transgender customers and employees can use. In April 2016, the Minneapolis-based discounter issued a statement that said customers and employees can use the restroom or fitting room that ?corresponds to their gender identity.? The move made Target the first major retailer to take such a prominent position on the issue, and won praise from supporters of transgender rights. But Target?s position also sparked criticism on social media that hasn'?t let up. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
The Trans Student Alliance at University of Southern California holds a rally and news conference at the state Capitol to protest a controversial bill that would ban transgender people from choosing the bathroom they use Wednesday, April 13, 2016, in Columbia, S.C. Louisiana's governor issued an executive order Wednesday banning discrimination in state government based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and transgender people in South Carolina told state senators that a bill requiring them to use a public bathroom corresponding to their "biological sex" puts them in danger of harassment. (Tim Dominick/The State via AP) ALL LOCAL MEDIA OUT, (TV, ONLINE, PRINT); MANDATORY CREDIT
The 21st century has been the time of many changes to create a better, safer environment for all people. This includes matters for equality, from religion to skin color, sexual orientation and gender identity.
One very special and historic moment took place last year, on June 26, 2015, when gay marriage was legalized nationwide. Then, in 2016, the Obama administration sent out a statement to every public school in the United States that required allowing all transgender students at public schools to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable in.
This key achievement for the LGBT community even expanded to Target, which allowed its transgender customers to go in the bathroom that they feel most comfortable in as well.
Although the majority of people seem to support this action, it’s hard for people, especially people from this generation, to notice that there are some who don’t believe this directive is acceptable.
In May, Utah and 10 other states announced that they would sue the Obama administration over the directive. The states contend that decisions like this should be made locally. Daniel Burton, a member of the Utah attorney general’s office, told KUTV News that, “This is about the process that is established under the law for law to be made.”
The office of Gov. Gary Herbert also issued a statement saying, “Today’s action by President Obama is one of the most egregious examples of federal overreach I have ever witnessed. Schools are the domain of state and local government, not our nation’s president. Unfortunately, this is exactly what I have come to expect from the Obama administration. If we have to fight this order, we will not hesitate to do so.”
This action, as explained by the attorney general’s office, is not discrimination against the transgender students, but a means to protect them.
On May 7th, a protest was held at a Target store in Layton against the directive. Organizers gathered signatures for a petition to ask Target to stop using its new policy. The protest was ran by a mother of four, who was concerned with the safety of people, and how there are around 209 registered sex offenders within a five-mile radius.
As Carrie Peterson told ABC 4 Utah, “With Target’s new policy, it’s unverifiable. You cannot verify a person’s intent, so these sexual predators will use these policies to gain access into the women’s restroom, making it a dangerous place for women and children.”
However, offering another perspective on Obama’s directive, Sen. Jim Dabakis of Utah wrote a post on Facebook in reply to Gary Herbert’s words. He said, “Have you no shame, governor. Some things ought to be off political limits. I know it is a Utah GOP primary but to throw 100 or so vulnerable Utah transgender children under the bus is despicable! I am heartsick and angry!”
Although carrying out this directive is primarily an effort by adults, the students who will be experiencing this directive firsthand have their own opinions to share.
Brittany Starr, a junior this fall at Fremont High, says, “I feel like students who choose to identify as a male/female while being born the opposite, should be allowed to go where they feel comfortable.”
But Starr did say, “I feel like it should be a state decision; the president should not have control over something that should be handled by the states themselves.”
Bailee Colvin, who will be a junior at Clearfield High this year, said that she does not support the directive.
“I feel like people might abuse it in the way of a male saying that he is a transgender, when he really is not, and going in a female’s restroom, pull out his phone and take pictures of the women in a vulnerable state … there is a point where you need to be stern,” Colvin said. “If they are going to give transgenders the right of the bathrooms, they need to come up with a better way to protect the people who could possibly be a victim in a situation of a crime.”
Yet Binnie Green, a Syracuse High sophomore this fall, says, “I stand by it wholeheartedly. I believe everyone should have a right to who they are and be able to use whichever bathroom that they feel comfortable in.”
Green added, “I have many transgender friends, and it’s terrible to watch them struggle with this issue. It sometimes seems like no matter which bathroom they use; the one that matches their gender given at birth, or the one that they currently identify with, they get discouraged for using it. And I feel like that needs to change.”
“I’d just like to say that I wish people of all ages would be willing to give everyone of all genders, ages and races a chance, because in the end we’re all people,” Green said.
Cathy Taylor will be a junior this fall at Syracuse High School. Email her at itsjustcattaylor@gmail.com.