I grew up in the 1990s.  In my world, transgender did not exist.  Sometimes you would see a drag queen or other flamboyantly dressed individual on television and we were raised to see that image as comical.  The world of transgender was not something I really knew anything about until I was an adult, and even then I never knew anyone intimately who struggled with this burden in real life. Let’s be real about this, the discrimination, isolation and stress that comes with being transgendered can add up to make one’s day-to-day activities monumentally harder than it is for many in the general population.

Often the arguments for those in favor of the bathroom laws are based on the proposed malicious intent of the person seeking to use the bathroom of the opposite biological gender.

The argument is based on the stereotype that because the transgendered person doesn’t identify with the gender that matches their biology this makes them corrupt in some way.   And in our society different is often the same as wrong or even evil.  There is no precedent to support this argument, it is based purely in an emotional, reactive foundation.

I am proud to live in a nation that is a melting pot.  We have such a variety of ethnicities, cultures and opinions that in some way lead to a conflict of cultures and opinions.  I am not gay, not transgendered, not a lesbian or questioning.  As a human being it is our responsibility to try and be the best human being we can be.  We should be building paths to communication, relationships and industry with those who don’t share the same lifestyle as us, not tearing them down or making them to feel that they are less in our eyes or less in society’s estimation.  It is about more than tolerance, it is about love.  My neighbor is just as valued as I am, just as worthy of love as I am and just as worthy of acceptance as I am.  And they can pee in whatever bathroom they prefer.