Potty Politics

My husband and I had dinner with my grandparents the other night, and as our conversations often do, they turned to politics. They had brought up a piece of legislation that had not been passed in New York recently, one vote holding it back. This legislation would have dealt with implementing unisex bathrooms across the state. While I could not find anything readily on this newest form, I was able to look up what other states had implemented (Massachusetts being one of them, go figure) and who is fighting for this law to be passed.
The goal of state legislation appears to be, to make all state facilities have unisex bathrooms so that transgendered individuals can have a safe and comfortable place to relieve themselves. While state legislation would not require this of private facilities, commentators believe they would follow suit and that is the ultimate goal of transgendered and "civil rights" groups. Back in 2005, New York was fighting for "equal" bathrooms on the grounds that it takes women twice as long to use the bathroom and while there could be no line to the men's room, the women's line could be a mile long. As a woman and now a pregnant woman who has to use the bathroom every five minutes, I can certainly sympathize with that. This 2005 amendment was asking simply for there to be a higher ratio of women to men’s bathrooms in public facilities, not unisex.
According to womensrights.com, "Segregated bathrooms are an idea whose time has come and gone. Unisex bathrooms are the solution to the urgent issues of personal safety and transgendered inclusion." They go on to claim that unisex bathrooms would not only be safer for transgendered individuals but for little children as well... Fathers would then be able to take their three year old daughter into the bathroom with them and mothers would be able to take their little boy with them because there would be no gender barriers. Well, I don't know about anyone else but I have certainly used a public ladies' room when a mom or grandma has had a boy even up to ten years old with them for safety's sake. I think most people expect that a parent would bring their young child of the opposite gender into the bathroom with them, so who are these groups really looking out for? They are looking out for the sensitive feelings of less than 1% of our population who choose (yes, I said it, choose) to change their sex.
Last semester my school created a unisex bathroom on campus in order to appease, one transgendered individual who had difficulty picking whether they should use the men's or the women's bathrooms. One person! I'm thinking I should ask for parking right next to my classes since I chose to get pregnant and clearly deserve special treatment because of my choice. This is what is so wrong with our society, we take a group of minorities and raise them up above the rest assuring them that whatever they want, they shall have. No thank you, on principle I'd rather walk to the farthest parking spot than be catered to for the choices I made.
While 1% of the population struggles with gender identity, I wonder what the percentage of moms and dads are that would not feel comfortable having their young daughter use the same bathroom as a grown man. I guarantee by a long shot it trumps 1%. One activist claims that if a man really want to do something horrible to a woman or girl in a bathroom, he could simply don a dress and wig and walk into a segregated bathroom; therefore, her claim is that segregated bathrooms are just as unsafe for your little girl as unisex would be. I beg to differ. Blame it on the extensive episodes of Criminal Minds that I have under my belt...I would gather that men who want to assault a female typically feel they have something to prove, that they are as masculine as they come. So a man with a masculinity complex probably is not going to want to feminize himself in anyway. These activists are pulling at strings to prove their case. They say, what would be the difference between a woman seeing a man in the bathroom as opposed to a butch lesbian? Well, a lot. I for one would rather take a tinkle with a lesbian in the next stall than a strange man.
This whole trend of gender neutrality is growing by leaps and bounds. As my summer professor vehemently pointed out that gender is not female or male, gender in essence is your level of which sex you are...meaning you can be genetically (your sex) male but your gender can be on the feminine side. This goes along with the liberal movement of be who you want to be as long as it makes you happy. Women are de-feminized and man are de-masculinized. I think God must be looking down in pain. God made man and woman and was pleased with His creation, yet we scoff at it and think we can enhance the experience; who do we think we are to question God's authority on gender? I grew up much like a tomboy, enjoying rough activities and playing with the opposite gender. But as I've grown and continue to mature (as it will be a lifelong process) I see more and more the value in femininity in women. The same with masculinity in men. I enjoy seeing my husband lift heavy things, seeing war-time photos of him and as independent as I tend to be, I love when he makes decisions for our household. He likes when I wear dresses and bake for him and do little things to make his day easier..it does not make me less of a woman in wanting to please him, but it does uplift him. We both win by following God's original plan for us. Granted some gender roles are simply man-made, the ones that God made for us end up being more fulfilling than not.
The true issue behind unisex bathrooms is not to make this 1% feel more safe and comfortable. As one activist pointed out, transgendered people have been using bathrooms by which sex they identify with or simply by using handicapped or family style bathrooms for years. Then what's the problem now? The problem is that they are not satisfied with gender roles, because they do not wish to abide by them, they want to have company in the breakdown of gender roles; of course they would never admit that. As a parent to be, my biggest concern is safety of my future children. While these activists are thinking about their own comfort level, parents should consider their comfort level in connection with their child's safety. The transgendered individuals fighting for this so called right are grown adults, our responsibility to protect them is not so great as our responsibility to protect our children. Somebody else's choice of lifestyle should not mandate how everybody else lives their lives.