Unrest Room
The fight over trans rights is in the news again. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has become the first transgender athlete to be selected for the Olympic Games. Jacinda Ardern has congratulated Hubbard, but some critics of transgender rights have complained that she does not belong in a women’s team. For most trans people, the struggle for social inclusion occurs on smaller stages. Public toilets are one of the places where their rights are frequently contested.
Transgender people complain of being stared at, sworn at, and even beaten up while trying to use restrooms in our country. Transgender women, especially, get a hard time in public toilets. They report being accused of voyeurism or stalking, and of transitioning for the express purpose of infiltrating women’s toilets.
Some politicians and religious leaders stoke paranoia about this subject. The Christian lobby group Family First has claimed that transgender people are suffering from a “gender dissatisfaction” that makes them falsely believe they
