I've lived in Texas all my life and I think it's a pretty neat place geographically/nature-wise, but I'm thoroughly embarrassed when it comes to the people who live in this conservative cess pool. Earlier in Houston, there was a public bathroom law debate and it got shot down.

A member of the Astros baseball team even became a spokesperson against the law and literally called trans people "confused individuals" and did that generic spiel about how it's just an opening for pedos to go touch your daughter, blah blah blah. I don't think I've ever been so upset at a commercial in my whole life.

Also, I've noticed that all these people seem to care about is the well being of little girls, and don't give a hoot about a trans man going into a men's bathroom and being harassed by cis men, or the same treatment for trans women by cis women.

It's frustrating and embarrassing to walk among people like this and just get talked over whenever I try to explain from an LGBT point of view, like I'm some sort of heretic ingrate...

When I was young, especially in my preteen/early teen years, I made all these homophobic comments about stuff being gay. This was brought onto me due to people at school talking about these things and in the media as well. I said these things because I was brainwashed, and to "fit in" and "look cool." It was around 2009 when I was 15 when I started to change my mind.

Now I live to regret that I said these things. One of the things about gay marriage that upsets me is how people say marriage is about a man and woman, and people complain about their significant other. Marriage gets excited at first, but dies down fast. I also have a feeling that it is jealousy because Gay couples get along while most Straight ones fail. Watch more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KLMYaF_Xa8

For Transgender bathrooms, I originally thought you go to the bathroom on what you were born with. I didn't see it as a means of discrimination. But since it is, there should be Transgender ID cards to verify that you are an actual transgender. If there is an issue, you would reveal it. Just like having a driver's license for example. Nobody checks your driver's license consistently, but it is still necessary to have like these Transgender ID cards. One would have to find a way that a particular person is transgender, so this is a way. And if someone poses as transgender but fails to identify as it, those people should be charged twice; Once with impersonating a transgender, and another with trespassing (or 3 times if any rape is involved). And another analogy to this is with handicapped signs in order to identify yourself to others.

I get what you're saying about the ID cards, and I can understand the thought that that could be for safety... but that would prevent a trans person from ever living their life FULLY as their transitioned gender. They would have to carry a reminder of the fact that they were assigned the incorrect gender at birth, a reminder of all of the struggle and pain and possible abuse and discrimination they have gone through... just to use the bathroom.

The fact is that I don't care who else is in the bathroom. First of all, no one seems to consider that gay men use the men's room, and lesbian women use the women's room, and pansexual/bisexual people of all genders use whatever they identify with ALREADY... so if it was a peeping problem, this solves nothing. As for children, unattended children are ALWAYS at risk, so people need to monitor their children regardless. Also, pedophiles tend to build relationships with children first, so they are generally someone the kid actually knows, not a stranger-danger in the bathroom.

When in a public bathroom, I just want to do my business and get out. That should be everyone else's concern, too. These laws aren't even about bathrooms, to be honest, they're about wanting to out everyone who's trans for the sake of outing them and making them feel like they are wrong for trying to correct what their brains tell them their body should be.

So ID cards would just go right along with that logic, unfortunately...

if youre afraid of going to the bathroom with trans people just pee at home

I am sick and tired of bigots using their fear and ignorance to tell minorities and LGTB+ people that WE are the threat to society while they step on us.

Preach.

So the majority of the population should be punished so that 1% of the population who CHOSE not be their birth gender can have special privileges? yeah, i don't see the logic in that.

not that i want to engage in this thread any more but in what world is going to the bathroom a special privilege.

I'm going to make myself clear here. A trans claiming to be a woman is NOT a woman, but a severely confused and delusional man. A trans claiming to be a man is NOT a man, but a severely confused and delusional woman. And when it comes down to a delusional man and a BORN woman, I will take the BORN woman's side every time. You can either be a feminist or a supporter of transgender, you cannot be both.

I have one further thing to say. Transgender. Transage. Transrace. Transspecies. Transabled. And even the malady of anorexia. Claiming to be something you simply aren't does not make it so (though the transabled can actually accomplish their goal if they're desperate enough).

I have literally nothing to say anymore.

Trans people stay safe! You're beautiful! Don't give up! ❤️ If you have anorexia, stay safe! It's okay to have a few bumps here and there! We are okay. We are working on it at our pace c:

That's your opinion, not fact. However, I have already stated my opinion, and the real, science-based facts that explain quite clearly that they are not confused or delusional and it is not something to turn your nose up against simply because you don't give enough of a shit to care about anyone other than yourself. Do you feel good about yourself, calling someone delusional because of a medical condition that they cannot help? Does it make you feel better about what you've done or what you've had done to you to make you so willfully ignorant? Do you really feel joy out of hating someone so much just because of something that you don't like? Why is it any of YOUR goddamn business what someone does with their body? It's not.

Just like people take advantage and hurt when they rape someone, the victim could not control what happened to his or her body, or what may or may not happen to their bodies afterward. So is it right that a man tells a woman who conceived from rape that it's wrong for her to have an abortion just because he doesn't agree with it?

Ah, I wondered when someone would accuse me of hate, just because I don't toe the LGBT party line. It's predictable, really. I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't hate transgenders. I'm pretty much indifferent to them really. If a man wants to live his life out as a woman, that's his business, UNTIL it starts to affect other people. And that's exactly the problem with this bathroom law. Other people ARE affected. The sad thing is the law is unnecessary. Maybe it's escaped your notice, but the truth is transpeople were using the bathroom of their choice all along and no one batted an eye, because the ones doing it LOOKED male or female. This law though is so broad that it enables voyeurs, exhibitionists and perverts to have free access to bathrooms, changing rooms, etc. just by saying they identify as women.

WOW. The level of absolute stupidity displayed here truly makes me want to vomit. You're a bigot.

It's transphobic "feminists" like you who drag down the entire movement. Congratulations on being part of the culture that kills trans* kids and adults. And since you've also brought it up: anorexia and ALL eating disorders are valid and real. Get back to me when you have a PHD in Psychology. I'm absolutely disgusted.

This is a sensitive topic and heated discussions are expected, but please remember to discuss your opinions respectfully.

I'm afraid you completely missed the point of my list. I know that those eating disorders are real. The point is that everything on that list is people believing something about their body that is simply not real. An 80 lb. anorexic is not fat no matter how fervently she believes she is. The woman in England that I'm thinking of is not, never has been and never can be a cat, no matter how much she believes she is. It is impossible for a middle-aged man to be a 6 year old girl. And so on and so forth.

Are you aware that gender and sex are not the same thing? It's recognized by psychologists and sociologists around the world and has been for a very long time. This is fact. You've said your opinions are facts, which they are not. They are not backed by any scientific research or proof. Just because I say something is fact does not mean that it is unless I provide actual evidence that supports my claims explicitly. Others have already provided you with scientific facts and years of study and research that have gone into sex and gender discussions.

Sex is the genitalia you are born with. Gender is a social construct, and it is the expression of oneself that is NOT inherently linked to their genitalia.

Your expression of what it is to be "female" is always going to be different from other peoples'. Sure, you may share your beliefs of what it means to be "female" with other people as well, but the fact remains that it is a sociological creation of mankind. There is no predetermined gender. There is no default gender.

You clearly identify as your assigned gender, which was based upon your own genitalia when you were born. Good for you. That does not mean that you are any more correct, or that your gender expression is more real or sound than anyone else's. You have the privilege of being accepted by a heteronormative cisgendered society. Congratulations. What you fail to realize is that your gender is not linked to your sex and that just because someone is born with a vagina, does not mean that they are female in the sense of gender.

Did you know that when new life forms are discovered, we classify them as male and female based upon which ones' sex organs are larger? Humans with vaginas have much larger sex organs than those with penises. That is why they are referred to as female in the first place, in regards to sex.

Your belief about your own gender is created from the society that you live in. For some, what they are told is their gender and what they actually feel is DIFFERENT, and there is nothing wrong with that. They are not wrong just because they are different from what you are or what you expect. What IS wrong, however, is for someone like you who is cisgendered and full of their own internalized fear or hatred of anything that might question what you know to be the "norm" or what you have accepted in your life to be wrong, going around and telling people who identify differently from you that they are wrong or lesser.

It is not simply a matter of thinking one is female when they are actually male. Male vs Female is a binary idea that has been ingrained into you and most of our society for a long time. There have always been people who do not fit that mold. In the past, we've been murdered, beaten, thrown in jail, and abused because of it. Those things? Those are wrong. Those are fucked up things that people have done to their fellow humans for ages.

You claim not to "hate" transgender people, and yet you want to deny them the same rights as you to use the goddamn toilet where they feel most comfortable. You claim that they are putting your children at risk. There are no documented cases of abuse by transgender people in our legal history. You know what there has been a lot of? Old white cisgender men assaulting little boys. Less than 2% of sexual assault or rape cases are ever brought to court in the United States alone. Less than 2% ever spend a single day in jail. You are targeting the wrong people. You want to protect kids? You don't have to worry about the transgender population. They experience increased cases of sexual assault and rape as it is. Because people like you form a society that others them and shames them for what they are. They have done nothing wrong and you treat them like dirt. Worry about people like Brock Turner who get away with less than 2 months of jail time for the brutal rape of a young girl. Worry about the rapists and molesters that never get caught because police departments don't even bother testing most rape kits, the ones that never get caught because we live in a society that blames the victim and no one wants to go through the invalidating and cruel treatment of sexual assault and rape survivors. Worry about people like you who keep trying to scapegoat easier targets while the REAL problem lays untouched, untreated, unacknowledged.

You don't have to like us. I don't give two shits if you think my gender is valid. Your generation will die out eventually and the new ones, the more accepting and progressive ones, will take over. Your archaic beliefs about sex and gender will die out. What you don't get to do is sit on your high horse and try to tell us that we don't deserve equal rights and opportunities as you do because we're different from you.

Have you even been READING my posts? I don't for one minute believe that transgenders on the whole are dangerous to anyone whatever bathroom they use. I even pointed out that they have been USING the bathrooms of their choice for YEARS without anyone complaining, which frankly makes the controversial bathroom law totally unneeded. The problem with the law, which not one of you is willing to admit to, is that it is so broad that it flings the door open for PERVERTS, VOYEURS and EXHIBITIONISTS. All they have to do is show up and say that they identify as women. BTW, there is a HUGE difference in being a tomboy or an effete male and actually BELIEVING that you're a member of the opposite sex. I've never been particularly feminine, but I've never once doubted that I am indeed female.

I have a great idea, why doesn't the US start passing laws about the real sources of child harm and endangerment instead? Statistics show that it's usually from someone a child knows, not some random stranger in any restroom. You know, we could funnel more funding into social services, put commercials on during cartoons that teach children who they can call and go to for help if someone is abusing them, make sure all teachers and church employees receive background checks and charge heavy fines to businesses/organizations that don't fully vet their people who work with children, dismantle and prosecute any business/organization that has a history of covering up child abuse...

Oh, we're going to discriminate against people who are already treated horribly instead with absolutely no evidence that suggests there's any major problem with perverts in public restrooms as opposed to all the perverts in families, churches, daycares, and schools? Why are we still allowing priests in public restrooms?!

Nobody in my home country actually cares about children or they'd be campaigning for their safety in ways that actually make logical sense and are backed up with true facts. This has nothing to do with keeping people safe.

Oh, and bigots are hilariously delusional if they think that screaming "I never felt like my gender is different so therefore transgender people are wrong and not real!" makes it reality for everyone else. I've never been to Canada so I guess Canadians don't exist either.

One last time. I don't think on the whole transgenders are a danger to anyone in using the bathroom of their choice. How much clearer can I make that? Take that example of the person with the beard. Do you think for one minute that that person has any difficulty when using the men's restroom? Of course not. It doesn't take a LAW either.

Since the point I was trying to make earlier was either totally misunderstood or else ignored, I'm going to put it in the form of questions.

If an 80 lb. anorexic girl walked up to you and started talking about how fat she is, would you agree with her because, after all, that's genuinely how she identifies herself? Or would you as gently and supportively as possible tell her that she is not fat, and perhaps offer to help her if you could? Take it a step further and say the girl is your underage daughter. Would you hesitate to get her counseling if she didn't want it?

If by chance you met that woman in England who identifies as a cat, would you sincerely assure her that of course she is even though you know it's physically impossible?

If someone confided in you that they intended to self-amputate an arm or leg or put out an eye because they feel that it's wrong for them to have it, would you walk away? Or would you report it to someone in hopes that the person can be prevented from harming himself?