Wanna have the physics, North Carolina? Better respect trans people...

[Lek]

Forcing transgendered people to use a "gender neutral bathroom" is basically forcing them to use a bathroom labeled "transgendered people," which puts a TARGET on their back, and sends forth the message, "you're not a man OR a woman, you're a weird thing that we don't know what else to do with, so go here."  

And people partaking in this discussion who refuse to distinguish between genitalia and gender are simply WRONG.  You need to remove yourself from the debate and get educated before trying to come back in and speak on the behalf of the transgendered.

I'm not trying to speak on behalf of transgenders. From what you said I can get a feeling for how it would feel to be singled out.  When I was in school I was terribly uncoordinated.  When we were in the schoolyard picking up teams for a ball game I was always one of the last to be picked.  I was harassed for striking out or for dropping a fly ball.  I was different and just had to learn to deal with it.  I went on to distance running and excelled at that.  My experiences made me stronger.  I could have asked that they wouldn't allow baseball in the school, so I wouldn't be singled out, but that's not the way life is.  As a society, we can't smooth over everybody's discomforts.  We can only do our best to accommodate everybody in the best way possible.  

It really burns me up when I hear about a small business that goes under because they can't afford to make the changes necessary to meet government requirements for the handicapped.  This happens when they are perfectly willing to assist any handicapped person to get up stairs, etc.  We need to realize our limitations and try to finds ways to deal with situations ourselves.  Life isn't always 100% even.

This is anecdotal, but it illustrates my point.  Another guy and myself were in the gym locker room wondering why the owner didn't put mirrors above the sinks.  There is a full-length mirror against one wall and a mirror on an another wall that is upper body height.  We talked to the owner and he said that the only way he could put mirrors above the sinks is if he can put a mirror at the sink which could be used by a person in a wheelchair.  He just doesn't have the space or the means to do that.  He said he has one wheelchair bound person who uses the facility.  Because of the need to provide for him exactly as much as everybody else, men who want to shave must walk back and forth from the sink to the mirror every time they need to rinse the razor, as does the handicapped guy who must go back and forth as well.  So everybody must be inconvenienced, even though there is a simple fix for the problem for 99%. To top it off, I don't know the guy, but there's a good chance that he would be fine with the fix.

We on both sides of the issue must be concerned with the rights and feelings of the other side as well our own.  This isn't to say that we should just ignore the situations of those such as transgenders, but there have to be reasonable accommodations.  Mostly, we must stop harassing and making fun of those who are different from the majority.  Love would go a long way.