Generations of schoolchildren — nerdy ones, shy ones, fat ones and ones who were simply different — are all too familiar with the gut-wrenching fear that a trip to a school bathroom or locker room can invoke. They have long represented safe havens for teasers and bullies who find the solitude of a boys or girls restroom as ripe hunting ground in which to stalk their prey. As a flat-chested teenager who spent a fair amount of time in the locker room, I can assure you that I took my share of teasing when I opted to change behind a curtain rather than out in the open among the girls who were more confident in their body development. For myself and many others, school bathrooms and locker rooms resulted in five to 10 minutes of humiliation. For others, though, necessary trips into such dreaded venues can be downright terrifying. I would imagine such is …show more content…
During a similar debate in Gainesville, Fla., last year, opponents ran a TV ad featuring a little blond girl dashing from a playground into a ladies room. An unseemly-looking man hanging around outside follows her in, as the words “Your City Commission Made This Legal” scrolled across the screen. Clearly it is a relatively small population of students at the center of this issue, but they are students who deserve to be able to attend school, play sports and use the bathroom in safety and comfort. Supporters of the proposed guidelines downplay opponents’ fears that allowing transgenders to use the bathrooms of their choice will provide ripe opportunities for hormonal teenage boys to start getting their jollies by peeing in the girls bathrooms. Chances that your average teenage boy will want to take on a female identity and claim to be female in order to get into the girls restrooms are probably not worth worrying