Anti-transgender activists inciting public fear with outlandish stories of transgender people attacking children in bathrooms and threatening public safety may be silenced by a new study finding no relation between transgender bathroom access and crimes occurring in bathrooms.
Researchers at the UCLA School of Law studied bathroom crime reports in Massachusetts cities and found no difference between cities with transgender bathroom access and those without.
The fact that this study is the first of its kind is, from the start, a big part of the problem. When “transgender people are dangerous” is the battle cry of activists opposing progressive public restrooms, why hasn’t the correlation been tested before? Why have these people been allowed to operate on assumptions alone?
A question on Massachusetts’ Nov. 6 election ballot will give voters the option to repeal the law banning discrimination against transgender people in bathrooms. Those looking to uphold the law respecting transgender people’s right to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity are advocating against fear-mongering
Those who claim the law barring discrimination against transgender people exponentially increases crime are abusing an easy finger-pointing tactic. Persecuted people are not the ones instigating violence — they have more to lose than anybody from garnering negative public attention.
Anybody who wants to go into a bathroom and attack a woman or child currently can. It’s not as though the government is posting security guards outside bathrooms. Actual criminals aren’t waiting for the government to change the law and legalize assault. Even if transgender people were notorious criminals — which this study has proven they are not — laws protecting their freedom wouldn’t make it easier than it already is for crime to occur.
Boston University is planning to install gender-inclusive bathrooms in the George Sherman Union this October, something that the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism has been lobbying for since 2012. Single-stall, gender-inclusive bathrooms are sprinkled sparsely around campus already, but this is the first time the bathrooms will be found in a big, public area.
BU is taking steps in the right direction with building two bathrooms that will provide comfort and accessibility to a greater majority of students. However, the university should not be applauded for addressing concerns that a student group has been lobbying for for 6 years, and furthermore, addressing them to the barest extent.
It’s easy for cisgender students to look at gender-inclusive bathrooms opening in the GSU and applaud the school for taking a miniscule step forward. If you’re an administrator and have always been able to use a bathroom that aligns with your gender identity, you can toss two new bathrooms at an entire population of BU students and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. But if you’re one of those transgender students and there’s only a few bathrooms on campus you truly feel comfortable using, what are you going to do? Make the trek to the GSU or Law Auditorium every time you have to pee?
CGSA Public Relations Coordinator Ethan Liu said the GSU bathrooms are the beginning of a push from the BU administration to install inclusive bathrooms across campus. But until the administration releases a schedule and map for when and where this will occur, we can’t believe this will really happen.
It’s nice to believe that our administration is acting in the best interest of its students, but we must wonder why it took this long for them to take action. If this is simply a move to pacify the CGSA, how can we trust they won’t become stagnant?
It’s entirely unacceptable that the administration has dragged its feet for so long. On the issue of gender-neutral housing as well, BU approved the housing option in fall 2013 after years of dilly-dallying. Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore was quoted in BU Today saying, “This is about empowering students to make choices about how they live and giving them a greater measure of control over their college experience.”
However, the BU Student Government advocated for years for gender-neutral housing options, only for the administration to swing back and forth, prioritizing other issues such as providing housing options to transfer students.
There are a multitude of services that should have been put in place long ago at a university that prides itself on being ahead of the times and providing a climate supportive to all students. The administration cannot pretend it truly cares about empowering students rather than pacifying them enough to silence their voices.
This study from UCLA affirms the fact that there is no justification for BU to hesitate on transgender bathrooms. The only student group whose well-being is at risk is the population of transgender and gender non-conforming students who deserve the fundamental right of access to a safe bathroom. This fundamental human right should be prioritized above any discriminatory beliefs students hold.
