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Discussion » Questions » Life and Society » What's your opinion about trans-gender access to school "bathrooms"?

What's your opinion about trans-gender access to school "bathrooms"?

President Trump is about to lift President Obama's directive that children should be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their chosen gender. (See the link here.)
Forgetting it is Trump's decision (probably any GOP president would have taken the same action) what do YOU think about it? What are the pros and cons?

Posted - February 22, 2017

Responses


  • It's just so bloody silly Didge ...A group of stuck up people .. I've been on nights out where the queue for the ladies had been measured in kilometers so I've gone to the men's ... It's no big deal... I know what you look like and I'm pretty sure you know what I look like ... Get over it everyone ... And Didge ... Hug your daughter ... But knowing you I think that's high on the list of things you do :)
      February 22, 2017 6:13 PM MST
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  • Oh, yeah. She made the switch about 25 years ago (she's 56 now) and, although it's not a lifestyle I'd have chosen for her, it was the best thing she could have done. It took courage and determination but she's made a life for herself. 
      February 22, 2017 6:18 PM MST
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  • And I think there in less the problem Didge ... It wasn't a case of choice ... It was either live a lie ... Or be true to herself ... Not much of a choice in my opinion :)
      February 22, 2017 6:36 PM MST
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  • If one has a penis one uses the Boy's Room.  If one does not have a penis one uses the Girl's Room. 
      February 22, 2017 7:21 PM MST
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  • And, of course, that is the counter argument. If it were that simple there would be no debate.
      February 22, 2017 8:14 PM MST
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  • I find it that simple. Penis, male, Boy's Room.  No penis, female, Girl's Room.
      February 22, 2017 9:35 PM MST
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  • I hate that it's become such a big issue. It's truly a distraction. Trans people make up less than 1%  of the population, so how this became such a huge national issue is beyond me. People need something to rail against in the culture wars I guess.

    Public bathrooms are awkward enough without all this crap.
      February 22, 2017 7:35 PM MST
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  • I've answered this question before on other websites but my answer remains the same. If a person isn't sure which restroom to use, they need to unzip their pants and take a peak. If there's a pole, you're a man and you use the men's room, if there is a valley down there, you're a woman and you use the women's room. It really is that simple. They will it's a discrimination issue but it's not. Discrimination would be if we didn't allow them to use either restroom solely because they claimed to be transgender. There is a legitimate safety concern especially for women. Here in North Carolina, at least two men have been arrested already for claiming they should use the women's room then they started snapping pictures of the women. Ironically, one of those men was in a Target restroom but that's beside the point. Transgender makes up a very small portion of our society. Why should we risk the safety and privacy of about 98% of the population simply so someone can feel validated? I say this goes triple for children. They are especially vulnerable and we need to be sure they are protected.
      February 22, 2017 7:52 PM MST
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  • Good points, Corey, which you'll see from the other answers are not always accepted. And therein lies the discussion.
      February 22, 2017 8:15 PM MST
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  • 17592
    Not just schools but all public bathrooms.  Go to the bathroom that corresponds with the sex checked on  your birth certificate.
      February 22, 2017 9:06 PM MST
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  • That'd work but are you aware that it is now legal for the gender on a birth certificate to be changed? There are certain formalities to be met but it is done regularly.
      February 22, 2017 9:42 PM MST
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  • 13
    i think that they should be allowed to use the bathroom of the sex they identify with and espcially if they have done the gender reassinginng surgery. it is inhiman and denial of their basic rights as a human being to be refused to use a public bathroom they prefer. This might have been normal and fair 50 years ago when there was no awareness or education about these topic but it is not right it is fair and we should not let this happen in this day and age.
      February 22, 2017 9:21 PM MST
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  • Good attitude. You'll see from some of the other replies that not everybodu agrees, and that's where the debate can become heated.
      February 22, 2017 9:44 PM MST
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  • Penis? Boy's Room. No penis? Girl's Room.
      February 22, 2017 9:34 PM MST
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  • Thanks, Whistle. 
      February 22, 2017 9:44 PM MST
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  • 739
    My opinion is if they are former women who have become men they should use the men's bog, and if they were men, but have become women, they should use the lady's. I don't expect any man to be forced to use the lady's, or any woman to be forced to use the men's.
    The issue of allowing children or teens to start to express their transgender identity while young is a contentious one, but I do not doubt that those genuinely gender dysphoric, are aware of it from a very young age. The argument in favour of taking early medical steps, is that they will go on suffering mentally if action is not taken. Also, if they enter the confusion of puberty in the gender they are born in, it is argued that it is too late. I am sympathetic to the whole issue, and I hope the health care professionals take great care in assessing their case as genuine before going too far along the path to transition. I don't know if there is any really reliable data on how common the condition is, but I think I do share your worry that some people may be looking for this condition where it may not really exist, nowadays.
    The "bathrooms" issue came up in the United States because the religious right lost the gay marriage argument, so they took it out on the transgender populace. There is not really an issue there. It is just a lot of bitter people who find it hard to tolerate difference, taking out their frustration on a vulnerable group.
      February 28, 2017 9:12 AM MST
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