It Makes Me Sad to See People Slandering Something They Know Nothing About

So, as usual, California passed a “controversial” bill that gave rights back to a minority and many people are not happy about it simply because they don’t understand the subject. The bill in question deals with transgender rights. What the bill does is it bans schools from discriminating a student based upon their gender identity. Schools in California must now allow a student to use the bathroom of his/her identified gender and trans students will be allowed to play on the sports team of their identified gender. This applies to all grades from Kindergarten to 12th Grade.

I’ve noticed a lot of people slamming the bill but I’ve also noticed that a majority of people slamming this bill do not actually know what transgenderism and gender non-conforming actually is. They’ve been fed lies and propaganda about transgender people and it’s sad to see so many people continuing to believe those lies. I’ve heard a lot of people slam this bill by saying that males will “pretend” to be transgender just to get a peek at girls in the locker room. Another common one is to say it’s “unfair” for sports teams to allow transgender students on the teams. I mean this in the most respectful way but if you think either of those things, you most likely don’t know anything about what it means to be transgender. I really encourage you to research transgenderism and learn about what it really means to be transgender. I mean no offense with that statement and I apologize if I offended anyone.

There’s no such thing as being “transgender for a day”, just as there is no such thing as being “gay for a day”. It simply doesn’t happen. Most people who are transgender have known since they were very young and have struggled with it for years. It's not something that just pops up. In today’s current society, being transgender means putting yourself in a lot of risk and facing a lot of social stigma. Being transgender is not easy and no one in their right mind would choose to pretend to be transgender just to get a peek at the opposite sex. Maybe it could happen, but it’s not going to be so often as you people keep attempting to say it will be. I’m not sure many of you slamming this bill know what risks come with being openly transgender. Transgender people are put in more danger every day than you could probably fathom. Being openly transgender, they risk rape, murder, and being physically assaulted just because of their gender identity. They face constant bullying by their peers, being fired from their jobs, and being denied housing among other things. It’s not a rare thing for people to discriminate against transgender people, it’s actually quite common but everyone just makes it a habit to ignore it. Being openly transgender in many areas of the U.S takes a lot of bravery to do.

Here in my city, it’s not that dangerous to be transgender because we accept people of all gender identities. It’s one of the safest cities for the trans community. But it’s not the same in other cities. In conservative States in particular, trans people face a lot of danger. Trans hate crimes are not covered a lot because in most of the U.S, the State does not protect gender identity. Trans discrimination is not covered a lot because, again, gender identity is not protected from discrimination in the majority of the U.S.

This is getting long winded. The point I’m trying to make here is that with all of the danger and social stigma that being openly trans comes with, no one is going to pretend to be trans just to take a peek at the opposite gender. If a grade schooler is trying to take a peek at the opposite gender, then perhaps it’s time to do your job as a parent and have “the talk” with them. I don’t know about you, but the elementary school I went to gave us the sex talk in fourth grade. We covered what would happen as we grew and all of that stuff. My mother finished up with the “sensitive parts” my school couldn’t talk about because she knew it was time I knew. So I was like 9 or 10 when I was given the talk by both my school and my mother. If someone around that age is attempting to peek in on someone of the opposite gender, they’re probably curious because 10 years old is around the time your hormones start kicking in and you notice new things about yourself and others. Before then, you may know about girls and boys but you don’t really know and you’re curious, that’s where the parents and “the talk” come in. Do your job as a parent, don’t attempt to punish others just because you don’t want to do your job. But I mean, most grade schoolers don't even know what being transgender is. Most of them attempting to peek in aren't going to pretend to be transgender, they're just going to attempt to sneak in or peep through a hole. You know, classic spying shit we've all probably done multiple times when we were kids.

In case you didn't know, transgender people do what cisgender people do in the bathroom. They go to the bathroom and then do whatever it is they do. Some transwomen will stand there putting on their make up and gossiping like many cisgender females do. Or they'll do their business, wash their hands, and leave like many other females do. That's all. Nothing bad or evil. Transmen will go to the bathroom and do whatever it is guys do in the bathroom. I've never been in a men's bathroom so I dunno what you all do in there. Although I've heard you guys enjoy comparing the size of your penises. Whatever floats your boats, guys. In case you were wondering, nothing goes on in the girl's bathroom. It's just a bunch of chicks putting on their make up, using the bathroom, or waiting annoyed in line for the bathroom. Seriously, why does it take some of you so long to go to the bathroom? Why is there always a line for the girl's bathroom but never the men's? I don't even know. I can guarantee you that even with this bill, nothing is going to change about the bathrooms because, contrary to popular belief apparently, transgender people are normal people and not sex crazed fiends.

As for the sports, it’s still not a valid reason. Yes, some transwomen playing on the female sports team may be a bit at an advantage, but so would muscularly built women. There are many women out there who are built muscular, they’re taller and stronger than the average woman because that’s how they’re built genetically. So why aren’t we banning them from sports teams? They’d be at the same “advantage” a transwoman would be at. If transwomen she be banned from the female sports team, then so should females who are built more muscular.

I had a friend like this in middle school. My friend has started identifying as transgender, so I will use the proper pronouns for him even though he identified as a female back when we were in middle school. Now, my friend was built very muscular, he could lift more weights than any male in our P.E class. He was taller than the rest of the girls in our class. He was taller than most of the girls in our grade. Granted, he never did any sports because he was too busy spending his time playing video games (usually with me or another friend haha). But if he had chosen to play sports, should he have been banned from the female sports team? I mean, if a transwoman should be banned because she might be more muscular, than he should have been banned for being more muscular as well, no? That's what you're saying pretty much. At the time, he was questioning his gender identity but still identified as his birth sex, as a female. But he was built genetically more muscular and stronger than the majority of girls. Now that he identifies as his true gender, he passes very well. I don’t speak to him much anymore but I’ve seen his pictures on Facebook and you can’t even tell his sex doesn’t match his gender. He’s not even on hormones I don’t think. He’s just built in a more muscular way than the typical lanky way most women are built.

And what about lanky males? Not all males are built muscular, there were a ton of lanky males in my school that weren’t strong at all, but many of them tried to play sports. They were at a disadvantage because of their lack of genetic strength, but they still tried. They’re at the same disadvantage a transman would be at. Do you guys see what I’m saying? I’m trying to make you see how ridiculous and illogical that argument is. There is no reason to fear this bill, it's not doing anything wrong.

This bill isn't going to harm anyone really. All it's going to do is give transgender students the same rights cisgender students have, which they should have had from the start. It's time to stop this archaic way of thinking that people should only be cisgendered and everything else is wrong. There's nothing wrong with being transgender and almost no one would pretend to be transgender just to get an upper hand in sports and/or to take a peek at the opposite gender. It's not going to happen and the people talking about how it's going to happen are more than likely fearmongering because they don't want trans students to be treated equal.

Before you decide to slander a bill and insult an entire community, please do your research and make sure you know what you're talking about.
August 14th, 2013 at 10:57pm