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FIUSM Editorial Board
opinion@fiusm.com
There’s no denying that issues dealing with the LGBTQA community comprise some of the modern day’s top hot button topics. Of specific concern to some individuals are the issues within the realm of transgender rights.
After the publishing of a Miami Herald article announcing the University’s plans to turn a storage closet in the Graham Center into a single-stall gender neutral bathroom, reader responses ranged from enthusiasm to rage, expressing particular outrage at the idea of a restroom specifically for transgendered individuals.
Wherever one finds oneself along the reactionary continuum, it’s important to understand that these bathrooms are gender neutral, free to be used by anyone regardless of gender identity.
Like many social issues that dominate discussion forums throughout the country, the topic of gender neutral bathrooms may require people to step back from their personal prejudices and place themselves in the shoes of those who identify as transgender.
What we believe these bathrooms provide is not an unfair advantage to people who are transgender, but an opportunity for these individuals to feel comfortable using a bathroom that doesn’t require that they reveal the gender identity that they may hide from public scrutiny. Taking this into consideration, the University’s efforts to provide gender neutral bathrooms in the rec center, housing complexes, and GC are steps in the right direction to transform the University into a more inclusive environment for all.
However, when taking one step forward, some feel the need to take two steps back.
Frank Artiles, a Florida Representative proposed a bill titled HB 583 that seeks to demand that people use only restrooms and other facilities designated for the sex which they were assigned at birth.
While some may argue that making accommodations for transgender individuals creates opportunities for, say, a cisgender female (a woman whose gender identity matches the sex she was assigned at birth) to enter a men’s bathroom under the argument that she “feels like a man” on a given day, others believe that there are other options more effective than Artiles’ proposal.
Community and family bathrooms that already exist can be used as an example. In these there is usually one toilet, a sink, diaper changing table and an enormous amount of space to accommodate parents if they are traveling with children.
Trans-friendly bathrooms don’t have to be as big. They can be created as a single restroom featuring a toilet and a urinal, or a series of these in order to accommodate more people. When it comes to crime, there are people who already take advantage of others to commit sex crimes in public restrooms. One way to keep the public safe in general is to put cameras outside the restrooms to discourage any violent acts, a precaution that should be taken towards all individuals.