By ROBYN SHAPIRO<\/p>\n
The Senate of South Dakota has recently voted to approve a \u201cbathroom bill.\u201d The bathroom bill states that students would have to use the bathroom based on their \u201cchromosomes and autonomy\u201d at birth, rather than what they identify with now. This bill not only attacks the LGBT community, but also completely discriminates against transgender students.<\/p>\n
State representative Fred Deutsch, who was in favor of the bill, stated this is necessary in order to protect the \u201cbodily privacy rights\u201d of \u201cbiologic boys and girls\u201d and that if transgender students were uncomfortable with this, they could use private accommodations. He refused to do a follow-up interview with Time m<\/em>agazine on this statement.<\/p>\n Time<\/em> provided a first-hand example of how this law could effect transgender students when they interviewed Rebecca Dodds, the mother of a transgender boy who had recently graduated high school in South Dakota.<\/p>\n Her son stated that the idea of using the girl\u2019s rest room was so uncomfortable for him, he would avoid using the bathroom the entire day. Because of this, he contracted multiple urine infections and had other health-related issues throughout his high school career.<\/p>\n The identity struggle for transgender students is a difficult enough issue that having a law to further isolate them from normalcy would only contribute to their existing insecurities. While conservative America considers the sensitivity of the standardized \u201cnorm\u201d, liberal America considers the sensitivity of all.<\/p>\n I believe Time<\/em> magazine did an excellent job providing a non-biased, yet informative, opinion on this current issue. They provided opinions from both the pro and con sides, while further examining how this law would affect transgender people and the LGBT community outside of the school system.<\/p>\n While much of our American population is socially conservation, our younger generations are growing be more and more liberal. The media needs to continue to report these issues with sensitivity and compassion as our society progresses into acceptance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By ROBYN SHAPIRO The Senate of South Dakota has recently voted to approve a \u201cbathroom bill.\u201d The bathroom bill states that students would have to use the bathroom based on their \u201cchromosomes and autonomy\u201d at birth, rather than what they … Continue reading