Why all of a sudden are people coming out as transgender and or gay? Simple answer, they have always been trans/gay. In today's society we have seen more and more people coming out as trans, non conforming, or gay/lesbian. It is much safer now than it was back then to express oneself freely. Even though we have progressed so far, there are still dangers and obstacles the LGBTQ+ community has to overcome. Especially trans gender individuals. A hot topic has been thrown around about if trans women/men should be able to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. Although Trans people have gained rights and freedoms, nevertheless they still face discriminations in bathrooms and public spaces because propaganda and misconceptions lead people to believe trans individuals are predators and liars.

When you think of transgender, the first thing that comes to mind is people playing dress up. Well it's more than that. “people who are transgender will experience ‘gender dysphoria,’ which refers to psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity(American Psychiatric Association).” It's a psychological and physical distress that I and many people suffer from; it’s not a choice or a piece of clothing, you are simply just born with it. “It is important to note that gender identity is different from gender expression. Whereas gender identity refers to one’s psychological sense of their gender, gender expression refers to the way in which one presents to the world in a gendered way.(American Psychiatric Association).” Lots of people love to confuse these two. To better understand, gender expression is how you and I dress. Some examples include tomboys, and effeminate men. They are both still men/women just with either a more masculine style or a famine style. While gender identity is how a person identifies them self regardless of their biological sex. As a trans person myself-who is biologically male but identifies as a woman- I can tell you how confusing and difficult it is to be trans. It's like my brain is a map and my body is the land I’m trying to navigate. Everything checks out my nose, my arms, but there is something that does not belong-as you can guess what it is-. I know what my brain is telling me but my body shows otherwise. Of course not every trans person does experience dysphoria, if fact you don't need to experience it to be considered trans at all. But it’s not all gray and gloomy, trans people do love to be trans it's just a difficult process to endure.

Many people believe that LGBTQ+ individuals did not exist in the past. Tons say it is a phenomenon that there are “,More and more gay people then there was when i was young.” To give a short answer, it was harder for people to come out let alone come out as trans. Since society has evolved and grown, more and more people can come out to loved ones without fear of being shunned or killed. “Transgender people (including non-binary and third gender individuals) have existed in cultures worldwide since ancient times. The modern terms and meanings of ‘transgender’, ‘gender’, ‘gender identity’, and ‘gender role’ only emerged in the 1950s and 1960s.(wikipedia).” In older decades and centuries there was no clear cut word for being LGBTQ+. Most historical writings only say how one felt in their gender or how other people were viewed for not being the gender norm. Up until the the 20th and 21st century, words like gay, fairy, homo, sissy, tranny, and much more were not adopted/pioneered by the LGBTQ+ community. Rather cis straight people(those who are heterosexuals'/identify their gender with their sex) used these words as insults, and having other meanings. Then around the civil rights movements of the 60s through late 70s. LGBTQ+ individuals decided enough was enough and fought to re claim their identities and rights as human beings. “The first Pride march, which was held in New York City on June 28, 1970. The event — officially known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March — was spearheaded by a group of activists that included Craig Rodwell, Fred Sargeant, Ellen Broidy, Linda Rhodes and Brenda Howard, for the first anniversary of the Stonewall uprising(Kaufman).” These four amazing people start what is known today as the pride parade held every year in the month of June. But there was also one more person who helped liberte gay and trans rights. Marsha P. Johnson. She was a trans drag queen who marched through the streets of New York bringing all different voices together fighting for freedom. As years went on more and more individuals felt comfortable to be proud of being LGBTQ+, and as well as celebrities too.

Even though our past LGBTQ+ heroes helped gain rights and liberate freedoms. It is still a struggle to be gay let alone transgender. ”Transgender and gender-nonbinary teens who were subject to restroom or locker room restrictions had an even higher prevalence of sexual assault, at 36%, according to the findings, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics(Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez).” Not only do trans and nonbinary teens have to deal with descrimination but also the chance to be more likely sexually assaulted. And this is only in one school. Imagine how other schools and facilities who do not have safe spaces their percentage rates of trans teens being assaulted. “In 2016, North Carolina lawmakers passed HB2, which banned people from using public bathrooms that didn’t correspond to their biological sex, as listed on their birth certificates. It became the first state to pass what came to be known as a ‘bathroom bill.’(Bracho-Sanchez)” First schools and now whole states are implementing discriminatory laws that further infringes of the basic human need to shit in a toilet. The opposing argument fears that trans people(more specifically trans women) to be preying on young girls or assaulting women in general. When in fact it's quite the opposite and even if trans women were “faking” and going into bathrooms assaulting women. We would still punish them because trans people are people two and can be as equally as evil and vial as straight cis gendered indivusials. Some many argue that gender neutral bathrooms solve this issue as it separates trans people and cis gendered people. Well it does not. For the long run at least. You see the concept of a gender neutral bathroom is that it’s isolated from the other bathrooms to bring safety to the public. But in actuality it just causes a prolonging of the underlying issue of society not viewing trans people as people. Making us use a separate bathroom from the “normal’ people is just segregation, not a solution. Mhmmm doesn’t this sound familiar? “Back in WWII alot of African Americans were starting to get rights for themselves especially in bathrooms. Conservatives feared that white women and children would be victoms of sexual preditors(Frank).” I am not surprised, history repeating itself. So instead of just pushing the trans away, how about we embrace trans people using bathrooms to simply use the bathroom. And when there is a case of a trans person assaulting others in bathrooms we should still hold them accountable and punish them as it is not a free pass.

Instead of infringing on trans peoples rights, and segregating them into gender neutral bathrooms. We should instead focus on how we can stop discrimination/discrimitory laws and bills from affecting presant trans people, as well as furture ones. Making it easier to medically transition, without worrying about not getting the treatment they need. Having rules/regulations accommodating trans people's needs, such as bathrooms, hormones, dysphoria, and legal documentations. And as well as to inform the importance of trans people in history who did help shape things in the present day. Our society should learn to respect, accept, and know how to accommodate trans people and not compromise or find a simple solution.

Write your bibliography here. MLA style

Demoya Gordon, Staff and Transgender Rights Project Attorney. “Bathroom Discrimination at School: Kyle's Story.” Lambda Legal, https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/20150914_transgender-bathroom-discrimination-kyles-story.

Frank, Gillian. “The Anti-Trans Bathroom Nightmare Has Its Roots in Racial Segregation.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 10 Nov. 2015, https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/11/anti-trans-bathroom-propaganda-has-roots-in-racial-segregation.html.

Kaufman, David. “How the Pride March Made History.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 June 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/gay-lgbt-pride-march-history.html.

“Transgender History.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_history.

“Transgender Teens with Restricted Bathroom Access at Higher Risk of Sexual Assault.” News, 7 May 2019, https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/transgender-teens-restricted-bathroom-access-sexual-assault/.

What Is Gender Dysphoria?, https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria.