Friday, July 12, 2013

Who shouldn't allow whom in the restroom

I didn't want to write about this. I want to ignore it like I have in the past, but my mind just won't let me. The misunderstandings inflicted upon trans people by the general population is staggering, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. There is even an argument to be made that the treatment of trans people is getting worse as the public becomes more and more aware of us and it is more difficult to just be left alone to go about our lives.

LGBTQ Nation is reporting that Alex Wilson, a nursing assistant going to school to become a licensed practical nurse, has been threatened to be jailed and kicked out of the nursing program if she continues to use the restroom congruent with her gender.

Until Monday, Wilson said she has been using the women’s facilities, but that came to an end after another student complained to the school’s administration, reported WFLA-TV.

Wilson said she was pulled out of class and told her alternatives: “If I continue to use the female restroom that I would have charges pressed against me. And that because of that I would be removed from the program as a nurse.”

The thing that bothers me so much about this is the implicit idea that trans people are somehow the 'other' in all things. When we go to the bathroom, it can't be just to use the facilities, there must be some other reason. While most people won't put a reason on to it, the ones that do seem to think we use the restroom for sexual gratification instead of out of necessity.

The people that shouldn't be allowed in the restroom are the ones that sexualize the thought of using the restroom and then try to use the power of the state to prevent other people from carrying out a biologically necessary function. That's right: if no one has done anything out of the ordinary in the restroom and you still think you should complain about them? You are the one that needs to be restricted to a special, single occupancy restroom across campus.

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