Everybody has to go to the bathroom at some point, and though many people may not think it, gendered bathrooms hurt transgender people every day.

Gendered bathrooms spark controversy over whether trans people should use the bathroom indicated for the gender they have transitioned to or the gender they were born as.

Another way gendered bathrooms are hurting trans people is that non-binary and gender-fluid people do not know which bathroom to use. Several times, a friend of mine who is gender non-conforming has stood for a minute in front of bathroom doors, wondering which to go into. 

“Most days I’m in between so I don’t know if I should go into the women’s restroom because I was assigned female at birth or if I should go into the mens restroom because often times I feel more comfortable identifying as male… if a guy came in then I couldn’t do anything because the guy might get mad at me,” they said. This shows how gendered bathrooms can make transgender people feel like they are not accepted for simply being who they are.

Fourty-one percent of transgender/gender non conforming people have attmepted suicide according to genderspectrum.org. This shows how the alienation of transgender individuals can lead to depression and thoughts of suicide. If we do small things such as remove gendered bathrooms, this could significantly improve the mental health of the trans community.  “When you’re told that you being you is wrong it leads to horrible life consequences”

Gendered bathrooms are just one of the small things that affect transgender people that cisgender people barely think about. If we are to truly believe in equality for all, then we must find a way to remove unnecessary gendering of objects and places.