Why bathroom bills are bad for everyone


Texas's bathroom bill (SB 8) went into effect yesterday. Yuck is an understatement.

There is no reason why transgender people shouldn’t use the bathroom where they’re the most comfortable. They go to the bathroom for human biological imperatives, just like everyone else. It’s just not a big deal.

(Plus the bill is just very poorly written. I just heard an ACLU lawyer call it "legal mumbo jumbo.")

These kind of bills, laws, and policies obviously target transgender and gender nonconforming folks, attempting to restrict their use of public facilities and inviting harassment.

But bathroom bills are also bad for everyone.

Don't be fooled by the claims they're about privacy. Instead, these bills are all about fear, ignorance, and misinformation. They're baking discrimination, hatred, and violence into law.

And that's not good for anyone.

These bills also encourage "gender policing" by the general public. Who looks like a woman? Who looks like a man? Who decides? Anyone who doesn't conform to stereotypical gender norms is at risk of being targeted, questioned, or harassed. Why would we codify that kind of gender stereotyping?

For information on SB 8, check out this fact sheet by ACLU Texas.


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Mandy Giles
Founder, Parents of Trans Youth

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