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Should transgender people use the bathroom that matches their identity?
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Transgender people are dangerous to cis women

Trans women are more dangerous and predatory than cis women, cis men could also take advantage of the law to gain access to female restrooms
Discriminatory Equality Gender LGBTQ Misleading Offensive

Context

When anatomical males are allowed to enter female restrooms and public spaces, they pose a sexual and moral danger to cis women. Men are naturally disposed to being more sexually aggressive than women. Even if the trans woman identifies as a woman, she is still more of a threat to the cis females in the restroom than another cis woman.

The Argument

Allowing men who identify as women into women’s bathrooms will lead to an increase in voyeuristic offences, sexual assaults, and rapes.[1] There is also a concern that cis men could pretend to be a trans woman to enter female public spaces with the intention of committing sexual assaults. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, when he spoke on the issue of trans people using the bathroom that matches their gender identity, said, “I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE,” adding, “I’m pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, ‘Coach, I think I’d rather shower with the girls today’”. [2]

Counter arguments

In places where transgender people are already allowed to choose the restroom they feel most comfortable with, there has not been a rise in sexual assaults. In Massachusetts, for example, there was no difference in sexual assault rates between cities that allowed it and those that didn’t. [3] A similar study undertaken by the UCLA School of Law had similar findings.[4] The same men proposing these laws under the guise of protecting women are the ones standing by Brett Kavanaugh and President Donald Trump who have both faced serious allegations of sexual assault against women. The appearance of protecting women often only matters when convenient to advocates of these arguments.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Men are sexually aggressive towards women. [P2] Transgender women maintain that sexual aggression towards women [P3] Bathrooms are intimate spaces where women are vulnerable [P4] Allowing Transgender women into female bathrooms will lead to a rise in sexual violence.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P4] In places where transgendered citizens are allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with, rape cases have not increased.

References

  1. https://www.christianpost.com/news/sexual-violence-reports-target-stores-spike-transgender-bathroom-policy-study-216795/
  2. https://www.vox.com/2015/6/2/8711051/mike-huckabee-transgender-showers
  3. https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/pa8dby/the-biggest-argument-against-bathroom-bills-was-destroyed-by-this-study
  4. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/no-link-between-trans-inclusive-policies-bathroom-safety-study-finds-n911106
This page was last edited on Monday, 14 Sep 2020 at 12:02 UTC

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