If reading the above headline makes you the slightest bit offended or confused, this is for you. Not because I want to push your buttons, but so you understand how important the opposing argument is.

Whether we should shift to gender neutral bathrooms has been an ongoing debate between conservatives and the LGBTQ community. I don’t identify with either one of these groups; however, I do feel that a gender neutral bathroom proves to be a lot more problematic.

Now, before you deem me an unaccepting, good for nothin’, transphobic, hear me out.
As background information, it is unknown how many transgender people there are in America. The statistics vary, but according to Gary Gates research from the Williams Institute, the estimate of transgender adults in America is at about 0.6%.

Transgenders are a small portion of the entire population, so the people who do identify with their biological gender, or “cisgenders”, are the mass majority.

Therefore, shifting to gender neutral bathrooms would only be beneficial if it’s in the best interest of most people. If not, this change does more harm to our overall society than good, intended or not.

So now you may be wondering what harm gender neutral bathrooms can cause.

It is more than likely true that “cisgender” individuals will feel more emotional and psychological discomfort by being forced into the same restroom as the opposite gender. This is especially true for women and children.

I believe that separate bathrooms were created to give opposite genders the privacy and security they deserve. It is not to make transgender people feel isolated. So taking away this privacy does nothing but jeopardize the safety of bathroom users.

Although this is only a personal judgement call, I feel sharing restrooms can easily increase incidents of sexual harassment or assault and even rape. This is already a problem that women and children unfortunately face without sharing bathrooms.

Some activists try to counteract this by stating separate bathrooms will not stop a predator from doing those things, but why make it easier for these things to happen? We shouldn’t just open the door for any potential harm or discomfort in what’s supposed to be a private setting.

Sacrificing the safety and security of women and children for the comfort of transgender individuals is not an efficient solution because it will cause an even bigger issue.

Bathrooms within schools will also cause some discrepancy. Following the argument for gender neutral bathrooms, schools would then have to merge not only the restrooms, but also the locker rooms within their schools.

This means that we will also have to change in front of the opposite sex. This certainly can increase the potential for sexual harassment, especially in a high school setting where many teens are immature.

All of that being said, opposing gender neutral bathrooms does not deem me transphobic, unaccepting, or any other label that could be placed on me.

Neither should any other student or individual who would feel uncomfortable fully shifting to a jointed bathroom.

In life, you must ask yourself which alternative will be the overall best decision for the majority.

In this situation, it would be to keep public bathrooms separate.