During a visit to my family in Oregon last year, I used the restroom at a local brewery on the stunning Pacific coast. I was a bit taken aback when I exited my stall and found my cousin’s husband washing his hands right next to me.

Did we accidentally wander into the wrong restroom? Actually, no.

The bathroom had been rebranded as “all-gender,” which means it’s open to everyone.

This change felt uncomfortable for me. I am concerned that spaces meant exclusively for women will continue to dwindle as the rights of transgender individuals and women’s rights collide.

Last week, the debate over bathrooms heated up again with the election of Sarah McBride to the U.S. House of Representatives. McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, is the first openly transgender member of Congress.

Rep. Nancy Mace takes a stand

This news didn’t sit well with U.S. Representative Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who recently put forth a resolution to ban the use of “single-sex facilities” by individuals whose “biological sex” does not match their identity.

In essence, Mace, a survivor of assault, opposes allowing McBride to use the women’s restroom.

Initially, I believed Mace might be seeking attention, given her tendency for publicity stunts.

However, I agree with her perspective: “Women and girls shouldn’t have to sacrifice their safety or privacy just because the Left wants to garner support from their activist base. This is common sense, not controversy. I will keep defending women and girls from these harmful, disconnected, and frankly bizarre policies,” Mace stated.

Additionally, Mace has reinforced her stance by proposing legislation to provide similar privacy protections for women in all federal spaces.

Following Mace’s concerns, House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed a new bathroom policy at the Capitol. This policy states that all single-sex facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms, must be designated for “individuals of that biological sex.”

“We maintain single-sex facilities for a reason; women deserve spaces exclusive to them,” Johnson told reporters. “Our stance isn’t against anyone; we are pro-woman, which I believe is a crucial policy to uphold.”

The House Speaker emphasized that individual bathrooms for House members exist, along with unisex restrooms throughout the Capitol.

This seems like a reasonable approach.

Valuing privacy and fairness for women is essential

McBride referred to this bathroom debate as an “attempt to distract” from more significant concerns.

Still, I believe these issues matter to many Americans. This concern was a factor in former President Donald Trump’s electoral success.

Numerous women and girls are tired of having their rights overlooked, prompting them to assert themselves. Earlier this year, female athletes filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for mandatory competition against and sharing facilities with transgender athletes.

Montana Representative Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat and “progressive, bisexual trans woman,” weighed in on the McBride-Mace situation, asserting that transgender women are “just as ‘biologically female’ as cisgender women.”

This comment drew the attention of J.K. Rowling, the author of “Harry Potter,” who has faced significant backlash from leftist activists due to her views on protecting women’s spaces.

Rowling commented on X, saying, “If a man identifies as a woman, then the term ‘woman’ loses its meaning. You eagerly seek to be categorized as female, yet by doing so, you erase that category. I understand this must be frustrating for you, but it’s even more frustrating for the women and girls who are fighting to preserve their rights and spaces.”

I agree with her. The definition of “female” is being undermined, as businesses, aiming to avoid bathroom disputes, adopt all-gender restrooms, like the one I encountered in Oregon.

This change is a disadvantage for women. In spaces where privacy is essential, such as bathrooms or locker rooms,

A room can be a setting where women feel exceptionally exposed.

These are areas where having privacy is crucial, and it’s not discrimination, as some Democrats have suggested, to want to safeguard that for women.