Soon, I’ll be using the men’s restroom next to you. Thanks to the Ohio Legislature. | Opinion
The presence of transgender individuals makes some uncomfortable, including our lawmakers, who are opting to misuse their authority to push us out of public spaces.
I am a 26-year-old woman, a former middle school teacher, and currently a graduate student at Miami University. Soon, I will be using the bathroom stall next to you in the men’s restroom!
Please thank the Ohio Legislature. In a typical move, they have inserted a partisan amendment into a previously bipartisan education bill that just passed. This amendment requires all students in Ohio, including those at universities, to use the bathroom designated for their sex at birth. It’s essentially a “bathroom bill,” reflecting our state’s persistent inability to address real issues we face.
Throughout my career, I have faced no troubles from students or colleagues regarding my gender identity. This is partly because, in the eyes of the law and my daily interactions, I am recognized as a woman. It has been about four years since I experienced direct “misgendering” (being mistaken for a man). Following hormone treatments and surgery, I am biologically female. Forcing individuals like me to use the incorrect bathroom not only wrongfully identifies us but also jeopardizes our safety.
Bathroom bills for trans individuals endanger lives. That’s their aim.
While I was teaching seventh graders in Preble County, I often drove past the campground where a trans man, Noah Ruiz, was attacked while using the women’s bathroom at the owner’s request. This highlights the irony of the bill – its supporters claim to protect people while it directly endangers individuals like me.
Envision me in the (men’s) bathroom in the library late at night when a drunk man questions my presence there—what happens when I respond that I am transgender, a group some elected officials label as evil and deserving of harm?
More realistically, as a graduate student teaching undergraduates, what do I say when I encounter male students at the sink and must clarify why I’m using that restroom? It’s ludicrous.
In my view, the primary motivation behind this bill is to penalize trans individuals simply for existing.
Our mere existence disturbs certain individuals, including our elected officials, prompting them to use government power to exclude us from public life. However, they fail to grasp that being transgender isn’t a choice, and legislation like this only compels us to assert our identities more loudly.
Trans individuals are your neighbors. We are not a problem needing resolution.
We are not an issue for the state to handle. Many of us are your neighbors, including school teachers and Christians. Like everyone else, we recognize the genuine challenges Ohio faces.
During my teaching career, I witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by the opioid crisis on our communities and families, with some of my students losing parents to addiction.
I also observed the adverse effects that poverty and an unjust school funding system had on my students.
Yet our elected officials seem to lack credible solutions for the pressing issues confronting us, opting instead to distract with legislation that endangers our most vulnerable students. This includes me, a 26-year-old graduate student.
So, what can you do?
Please become open and vocal allies. Plant seeds of love and acceptance within your community.
Gov. Mike DeWine should have vetoed this bill, yet he signed it. The political mechanisms in our state will continue, and some individuals will be hurt by it—lets hope it isn’t you or your child.
If you find yourself on a college campus, try not to react negatively when you see a woman in the men’s room or a man in the women’s restroom; understand that current laws have placed us in this position. We would prefer to use restrooms in peace as well.