IT'S TIME TO FOCUS ON THE T IN LGBT
Bathroom Issues
“She said to me that ‘I’m tired of you guys keep coming in here, using the women’s bathroom.
I know you're a man, you he-she
The officer then grabbed me by my arm, spun me around, grabbed me right behind my back and forcibly pushed me out the Giant.”
This is the story of 32-year-old Ebony Belcher, a transgender woman who was assaulted outside of a bathroom. She says that she was pushed so forcefullty that she was on the verge of falling.
The new bathroom bill will force people to use the restroom that corresponds with the sex on their birth certificate, specifically in schools and public facilities. Those who support this notion claim fear of being attacked by trans individuals and of their daughters being in the same bathroom/facility as a trans girl/woman. There is no evidence to back this fear. They say that they want to protect their family but from what? From the blatant transphobia that fuels them to say things like this?
Don't want to get gunned down? STAY OUT of of WOMEN'S BATHROOM
Rather transgenders are the ones living in fear.
Schools with policies that allow trans students to use the facilities that align with the gender they identify as have had no problems with students abusing the policy. Saint Pauls Public Schools summ it up perfectly.
"There is NO correlation between unsafe school environments and providing equitable acess to facilities for transgender and gender non-conforming students."
The belief that trans people in the bathroom are dangerous is complete blasphemy. Nicole Monroe, a Public Information Officer with the Baltimore Police Department called it "the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard". The people who are in the most danger in the bathroom are trans individuals.
A boy who we'll call Ben, once told me a story of expiereces in bathrooms as a trans boy. Ben said that when he used the men's restroom at school, he was verbally harassed and when going to the women's, he was attacked physically.
A survey of trans people in San Francisco proved that having to pee while trans is a much bigger problem than you might want to believe. Participants reported having been denied access, physically abused, verbally harassed, and even arrested when using public restrooms. People have even been made ill from avoiding public restrooms all together.
Hate Crime Targets
LGBT people are the most likely targets of hate crimes. According to a New York Times article, those who are opposed to LGBT individuals may become more radical
LGBT is the acronym of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans/transgender. Many versions of this acronym, but most commonly a plus (+) is added to represent the rest of the community. The word trans refers to those whose gender does not align with the sex on their birth certificate. It can also refer to those who fall outside of the gender binary (boy or girl), gender-nonconforming, and intersex individuals.
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