A Virginia school district wants to ban a transgender teen from using the gender

they identify as bathroom.

Our society should build unisex, single-room mini-bathrooms for all, like the
kind you find in an airplane. These bathrooms would address not only the
issue of transgender bathroom usage, but also of privacy concerns generally.
Of course, this is a vital concern to all who think that the needs of the weak or
disabled are the deep moral imperative. Unisex mini-bathrooms would protect
the dignity of these individuals. They and their caregivers (especially of the

opposite sex) would be freed from the critical comments they might encounter
when using gendered public facilities.

Conversely, those patrons who are uncomfortable with the presence of an

opposite-sex person in a bathroom, regardless of age or disability, would be
accommodated.

If we all adopt this plan, the bathroom areas of public places would resemble
the bathrooms we are all used to in our homes: They will be a room suitable
for either gender, with a toilet. Everyone has their own private space. If
showers are provided, each shower would be completely self-contained.

Communal showers would (and should) disappear -- they are a gross

intrusion ​on privacy, as everyone knows.

Fortunately, there’s a solution to the bathroom problem that addresses both anti-trans anxieties
and trans fears. Imagine a room with a toilet, a sink and a door with a lock. Suddenly everyone’s
problems go away. Are you a trans person who’s afraid to use the ordinary gendered bathrooms?
Use the single-user bathroom instead. Are you afraid of encountering trans women in the
women’s bathroom while you’re putting on your makeup? Use the single-user bathroom
 It’s a decision that should be left for the school’s administration and
board to decide. Also, it shouldn’t be a reason to pull out federal
funding if schools choose not to follow this law.

It’s also up to Congress to write the laws, not the executive

department.

1) I don’t think it is the federal government’s job to dictate what each

school district does with its students. That is extreme government
overreach, and it sets a bad precedent for the future.

2) I think that it is endangering females by opening the doors for any

man who wants to enter locker rooms and restrooms where females
are. I am not saying that transgender people will be the ones
committing crimes; however, these laws and orders will allow any
guy who wants to to enter these previously all-female spaces without
being restricted by law. If schools want to provide a gender neutral
restroom or space where transgender people can go, that is one
thing, but eliminating any place where girls can go and have privacy
from men is a very bad policy.

It is first of all not the federal government’s job to determine this for
every school, and to be 100 percent honest, this makes me as a
female very uncomfortable. This liberal push for equality in virtually
EVERYTHING is beyond ridiculous. You are given a gender, and
whether you agree with it or not, you go to the bathroom you are
assigned — not the one you determine. Mr. Obama, this is terrible,
and for everyone out there that says this is a step for a safer
environment, you are very, very mistaken.

I’m a high schooler and the co-president of the Gay Straight Alliance at my
school. I 100 percent think that this is a step in the right direction. We have been
fighting for this right at my school for years and are very pleased that it is being
addressed federally. We are thrilled that this will make our school a safer and
more comfortable place for students to learn (and relieve themselves) regardless
of their gender identity.
As a high schooler, I honestly couldn’t care less which bathroom somebody uses if
they’re using whichever one matches their gender identification. I believe that the
whole freakout on this issue is a ploy to distract people from the real issues that
face us, like childhood poverty, undue corporate influence in politics and income
inequality.
Transgender students have ​reported​ being told that they needed to use a
unisex nurse’s office or staff restroom—missing out on class time, being
teased and feeling “quarantined.” More than a quarter of transgender
adults​say​ they’ve been denied access to “gender-appropriate facilities.”
In ​a study​from UCLA’s Williams Institute, nearly 70% of transgender
people said they had experienced verbal harassment in a situation
involving gender-segregated bathrooms, while nearly 10% reported
physical assault. Transgender people will often seek out unisex
bathrooms to avoid conflict that makes them feel like they don’t belong
in one space or the other.
There are ​more than a dozen states​ and several cities that have
non-discrimination laws that protect gender identity in public
accommodations, which is a legalistic way of saying transgender people
can use whatever bathrooms they want in public. This is the kind of
affirmation that started the whole controversy in North Carolina.
Charlotte passed such protections earlier this year, state lawmakers said
there would be terrible effects and passed a countermeasure, HB2, that
eliminated Charlotte’s protections and banned other cities from passing
anything similar. New York City ​has banned​ discrimination based on
gender identity for more than a decade. California has affirmed the rights
of K-12 students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that align with
their gender identity for years. Advocates say that while there are some
past examples of heterosexual men dressing up like women to gain
access to women’s spaces, there’s no record of that behavior increasing
when there’s an LGBT non-discrimination law on the books. “We have so
many places that do prohibit discrimination where this has never come
up,” says the Equality Federation’s Rebecca Isaacs. “This is a red
herring.​A federal judge in Texas has issued a nationwide injunction barring federal
government agencies from taking action against school districts that don't follow the Obama
administration's guidance on transgender bathroom policies in schools.