Matt Kailey

I’m so tired of the bathroom issue (I said “issue,” not “tissue”), and it just won’t go away.

Tomorrow (November 3) in Kalamazoo, Mich., voters will decide whether or not to uphold Ordinance 1856, which provides protections for LGBT residents of Kalamazoo in the areas of housing, employment, and public accommodations. This ordinance was adopted by the Kalamazoo City Council earlier this year, but a group opposing it was apparently able to put it on hold until the election tomorrow. Their primary argument: that providing fair and equal access to public accommodations would allow grown men to use restrooms meant for girls.

This is the same argument that was put forth here in Colorado with regard to our public accommodations law, but thankfully, it was ignored by legislators who passed the bill. Opponents argued that men would enter elementary schools and go into the girls’ restroom and it would all be perfectly legal. Sorry, but that’s not the case — it would not be legal.

Grown men have no business hanging around elementary schools, anyway, unless they are principals, teachers, staff, or parents. And if a grown man wants to enter a girls’ restroom bad enough, he will find a way to do it. The lack of a public accommodations law will not stop him. And if he is caught, he will not be able to use such a law as a shield. But since the public accommodations law took effect in Colorado, I have not heard of one instance where a grown man was able to enter a girls’ bathroom.

I’m sick and tired of trans people being hung out to dry because of unfounded fears, prejudice, and misunderstanding. Should we be denied equal rights because some hypothetical man might try to dress as a woman and enter a girls’ restroom? This could happen today in Kalamazoo or anywhere else, regardless of what the laws are. It has nothing to do with trans people in any way.

The use of scare tactics to deny civil rights has a long history. But the whole bathroom issue is just tired and absurd. The argument is as thin as the toilet paper in most public restrooms, so let’s just flush it now and stop using it as a flimsy excuse to deny trans people their rights.