The story of Coy Mathis that is getting
attention now is one more in the long line of examples of how transphobia is so
deeply rooted in our culture. Coy is a transgender first grader whose parents
have come to respect and support her on her gender journey. She used the girls'
restroom for a year and a half before the school district said she would have
to start using the boys' restroom or the teachers' restroom. She lives in
Colorado, one of the sixteen states that has anti-discrimination laws for transpeople.
Yet, the school district is refusing to comply with state law and arguing that
it is unclear.
It's good
that 16 states have some form of anti-discrimination laws. We're making
legislative progress. But what does this progress mean when not even those
states are complying with the laws? The school district is arguing that as
Coy's genitalia develops she will make others in the girls' restrooms
uncomfortable. As Jill Fillipovic, in her article "From school to society,
the intolerance transgender people face," states, "that in 29 years
of using women's bathrooms, I have never once caught a glimpse of anyone else's
bare crotch, it's worth asking: why should the potential future discomfort of
yet-to-be-discomfited students or parents trump the right of a six-year-old kid
to be treated like everyone else?" Obviously someone is already
uncomfortable. Why?
Someone is
also uncomfortable in Arizona. A bill was introduced by a Republican legislator
that would associate which public bathroom someone uses with their birth
certificate. Failing to follow this would result in six months in jail. What is
the purpose of a bill like this? To me, it seems to have no other purpose than
to enforce rigid gender roles, suffocate identity expression, force every
person to conform to white-supremacist, cissexist values that are the root of
so many horrible injustices of this world. It seems to me like some people are
having such a difficult time with the idea of letting go of their privileges
and respecting people with different life experiences as equally valuable as
their own. Perhaps they see no other option than to get rid of the difference.
I've wondered if people feel so insecure that they need every facet of their
lives to resemble themselves so that they can feel validated.
I really
don't know how to explain someone feeling motivated to introduce a bill tying
bathroom use to your birth certificate. I'm going to add a quote by Rep. John
Kavanagh from the news article "Transgender Bathroom Use Debate Emerges In
Arizona," who supports this bill, but I want to add a trigger warning
before I include this quote. In support of the bill, he says, "This law
simply restores the law of society: Men are men and women are women... For a
handful of people to make everyone else uncomfortable just makes no
sense." Hmm. Who is this everyone else? As a cisgender woman aspiring to
be an ally to trans communities, I feel more than uncomfortable about being
grouped in with people like Kavanagh. In my opinion, the handful of people who
are enraging everyone else are the people that feel righteous in their transphobia,
racism, sexism, homophobia. The people who try to pass laws so that some
beautiful, loving, talented, amazing people go to jail for using the bathroom.
Why can't
Coy use the girls' restroom? From news article “Coy Mathis,
Colo. Transgender Child Banned From Using School Bathroom, Ignites Debate Over
Anti-Discrimination Laws” Attorney
W. Kelly Dude says, "'However, I'm certain you can appreciate that as Coy
grows older and his male genitals develop along with the rest of his body, at
least some parents and students are likely to become uncomfortable with his
continued use of the girls' restroom.'" No, I can't appreciate that at all.
There is no time for legitimizing this type of thinking anymore. Too many
people are being made to feel insecure about who they are or unable to express
their needs. Too many people are being bullied, harassed, killed so that a
handful of others can feel "comfortable." Transphobia is a real
aspect to our society. It's woven into the fabric of our world. It's time to
recognize that and do something about it.
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