Recently, more and more people feel uncomfortable using public bathrooms. Transgender people, people who question their gender, or don’t represent as one feel unsafe due to the negative outlook on their beliefs on gender. Currently 18 states have banned discrimination against Transgender use of public bathrooms [CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, IA, ME, MD, MA, MN, NV, NJ, NM, OR, RI, VT, WA, and Washington D.C]. Although that is great, there are still have many cases regarding people being harassed based on the gender they identify as. Only 2 states have enforced laws to restrict Transgenders the use of public bathrooms [NC and MS].

Shelby Westerberg, ‘19, Cameron Housworts, ‘18,  and Grayson Lindsey, ‘18; leaders of the GSA (Gay, Straight, Alliance) Club which works to provide a safe space for everyone, they all said that “There is no reason to discriminate Transgenders from using the bathroom that they identify as,”. One of the main concerns they have is that the more open to the general public the more dangerous it is for Transgenders to become victims to hate crimes from cis-genders.

One common goal students at South identified was having all-gender bathrooms in schools and public places so that everyone has a place to feel safe when using the restroom. When asked if there is anything at South we could change to make people feel more comfortable using the restroom of the gender they identify as, one thing Shelby, Cameron, and Grayson said was that it would be nice to convert some Male and Female bathrooms into All-Gender bathrooms.

“At least one on each floor would be nice,” Shelby Westerberg ‘19 said. Though students may have to walk a longer distance to the bathroom, more people would feel safer using the restroom and overall improve the current problem.