We have a situation here in Colorado (since when did we become ground zero for hotbed issues?) involving a 6-year old boy, that identifies himself as a girl, and wants to use the girl's restroom at the local public school.
The school came out and said that the child could use the boy's restroom, the nurse's restroom, or the staff restroom. The family felt that by forcing the child to use anything except the girl's restroom would stigmatize the child, and open the door for ridicule, shame, and bullying. They have since begun homeschooling the child, and have filed a suit against the school.
It's interesting to me to see this all unfold.
On the one hand, if the child walks, talks, thinks, and acts like a girl, what's the harm in letting her use the girls bathroom? After all, she's only 6, what's the big deal?
On the other hand, what happens when the child is 13, in junior high, and sharing the girl's locker room during gym class? Is it still okay than?
At some point, we as a society have to decide which group takes priority, The Exceptions or The Norm. We've made just about everyone a "protected class". You can't please everyone. Some will be excluded, and will have to work around the ways of Society.
I personally feel the school has made an effort to accommodate a highly unusual situation, by allowing the child to use bathrooms that are not available to the general student body. This isn't good enough for the family, because they want their child treated like a little girl. Problem is, their child isn't female.
I'm all for your personal rights, but what happens to my rights, when yours are forced upon me? Why do your needs take a higher level of importance than mine? I understand the parents of the child wanting their kid to feel "normal" and accepted, but what if by doing that, it makes several of the girls in that class/bathroom uncomfortable? Do the rights of the transgendered child have more weight than those of the "normal" girls?
I feel the parents of this child are doing a tremendous disservice to their kid. Instead of explaining to the child that she is unique, different, and likely to be misunderstood her whole life, and helping the child to learn how to deal with, and overcome that; they are instead acting like this isn't a big deal. They are letting the child be defined by the hand Life has dealt to her.
I think of Track and Field legend Wilma Rudolph. Born with Polio, and having to wear leg braces to combat the infantile paralysis she contracted until age 12, Wilma vowed to be a successful athlete. She went on to win three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics, setting World and Olympic records along the way during her storied career. Wilma took life's lemons, and made lemonade.
My nephew has Alopecia, a medical condition that causes hair loss in varying degrees from the body. During his childhood, the kid's head looked like a soccer ball, with tufts of jet-black hair, and patches of bald skin. His parents didn't treat him differently because of it, they educated him of what he had, and he was fine with it. People would ask this young kid "What happened to your hair?", expecting to get a reply that featured some sort of accident at home with Dad's clippers, and a 6-year old would say "I have Alopecia. It makes your hair fall out." The family came up to Denver for a convention back in the late 90's, and I went to the hotel to splash around in the pool with my nephews. As the attendees to the conference were staying at the hotel, the pool was full of bald kids. What used to make spotting Issac easy, was now impossible. It did make it easier for him to find me in the pool however. Issac has never been defined as "the bald kid", he's been defined by his personality, his athleticism, and his sense of humor. He also happens to be bald.
I hope the parents of this young child stop trying so hard to make it "fair" for their child, and focus more on giving their child the tools to better succeed in the World.
Go make some lemonade.
