By Kevin Ussiel Marure Melchor, guest writer.
He pushes the big heavy wooden door open. It makes a scratching sound, He walks inside the bathroom. A big boy looks up from the sink where he’s washing his hands. “What are you doing here, you don’t belong here!” He yells as the larger boy grips him by the shirt and throws him on the cold hard floor.
For most people, going to the bathroom is not a problem, but have you stopped and actually thought about others. You may not know this, but some people struggle to use the bathroom. No, I’m not talking about constipation, I am talking about a physical and mental situation. There has been multiple situations where people have been physically and emotionally assaulted when using a gender specific bathroom. I know this is because I have experienced it myself on multiple occasions. It can and has led to life threatening situations. There should be unisex restrooms in school, restaurants and public areas.
An article from the Bilerico Project told the story of a transgender woman was brutally beaten at a Baltimore McDonald’s all because she was simply trying to use the bathroom like any other woman. Two McDonald’s employees saw what was happening and did nothing to prevent it. They instead decided to record the fight, but did nothing to help the woman. This is just one of many instances where people have been beaten and dragged out of bathrooms just because of their physical appearance.
Members of the LGBT community are not the only ones who have problems with this specific situation. Believe it or not, heterosexual people can have problems with public restrooms too. For an example, in public schools some people are just not comfortable using the bathroom with the same sex, it’s simply uncomfortable to them. That’s why there should be a unisex bathrooms in public places. For single person use.
I have a close male friend who does not use the public bathroom because he is simply uncomfortable.
“I don’t like using the bathroom because it doesn’t feel right. I’d prefer to use a single private bathroom,” he said.
It has nothing to do with sexuality, it’s just something that doesn’t feel right to him.
People might say no it’s not right that they might influence people to become a transgender. But it’s also not right to deny people’s rights as human beings, and just because I see a transgender person entering or exiting the bathroom does not mean that I am interested or make me want to change my gender. Unisex bathrooms should be available everywhere. It makes people’s lives less complicated and can prevent a lot of bad situations. At the end of the day, a toilet is just a toilet.