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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2013/06/13/the-first-us-county-to-require-gender-neutral-bathrooms/

The Case Against Fully Shifting To Gender Neutral Bathrooms

Theres probably a lot of people, primarily student activists, who get angry just from
reading the above headline. Ill ask two things from those of you who fall into that
category First, hear me out. Second, understand that the following argument is not
based in any hostility towards any group, but rather raw practicality. Also, as you will see,
this argument applies to community bathrooms, not single stall bathrooms.
Pushing for gender neutral bathrooms is a new and increasingly popular form of
campus activism. Left wing students across the country have been trying to
eliminate the traditional binary divide between the genders in on-campus
restrooms. For example, college students in California recently held a Sh*t in

(http://www.breitbart.com/california/2015/04/21/poop-equality-students-hold-sht-inat-public-california-university/) to campaign for, among other things, adding Gender

Diversity signs to existing gendered bathrooms.
Why are students doing this? Mostly out of a desire to be more inclusive, particularly
to transgender individuals. But as this movement picks up steam, the demands for
more and more bathrooms to drop their gender segregation may prove
problematic.
As a bit of background information, the true number of transgender individuals in
the country is unknown. Estimates vary (http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-wedont-know-the-size-of-the-transgender-population/), and within those estimated
percentages, there are differing levels of gender dysphoria between persons.
Regardless of where the exact number lies, understand that it is a small percentage
of the population, both at large, and at any specific school in the nation. What
activists call cisgender is the overwhelming majority of any student body.
Therefore, on net, a shift to gender neutral bathrooms would only be a good move
for a school to make if the collective benefit to those members of the population
which feel more included (the minority) outweighs any potential downside to the
cisgender community (the majority). Otherwise, on net, the movement will do more
harm to society than good, whether they meant to do so or not.
Lets break it down further the emotional/psychological discomfort a transgender
individual feels as a result of separate bathrooms can be terrible, but it is more than
likely true that many cisgender students will feel discomfort from being forced to
use the restroom with the opposite sex.
To be crass for a moment students spend time naked or exposed in dorm
bathrooms across America. Whether it be stalls, showers, or whatever else, there will
be plenty of opportunity, intentionally or otherwise, for students privacy to be
violated by the opposite sex in community bathrooms.
In addition, there are many dangerous scenarios that are real possibilities. One such
scenario is passing out in the bathroom after a night of partying. This happens too
frequently at colleges, given the high levels of drinking which occur on weekends,
and sometimes even weekdays. As a simple example, ask yourself, if a female

student passes out at 3 a.m. in a bathroom stall, would you prefer another female
find her, or have it be a coin flip whether the next person coming through that door
is a male or female? Personally, I would prefer another female student find her, as
opposed to a potentially intoxicated male.
Herein lies the biggest danger with gender neutral bathrooms a potential for more
sexual assault, and certainly more sexual harassment.
True, what Ive just described is a purely subjective judgement call, but the question
you must ask yourself when considering this issue is whether the emotional,
physiological, and even physical stress that could be put on cisgender individuals is
collectively larger than the benefit in the same areas that transgender individuals will
receive. Its difficult to test, and likely impossible to quantify, but I present this
argument to make it clear that simply opposing gender neutral bathrooms does not
make you mean, transphobic, hateful, or whatever other character assassination
may be thrown my way, and more importantly, thrown at students who are
uncomfortable with this movement and are being labeled with insults in retaliation.
When it comes to public policy, everyone has to bear in mind that everything is a
trade off. When you spend money on a new library, you make others worse off by
taking more of their earnings through taxes. When you kill a terrorist, you may end
up with civilian casualties. If you want more security at home, you may have to
forfeit your civil liberties. In other words, whenever you make something better, you
must make something else worse. The question is, which alternative outweighs the
other in terms of harm and benefit. Public policy is about finding the right balance
with every issue, and maximizing things through making the correct trade offs.
Gender neutral bathrooms are no different.

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