Transgender People Transition Essay

Over the past couple of months, states such as Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri have passed laws to discriminate against transgender people. These laws are outrageous because they relate to many other social justice issues that there have been in the past. Social issues such as discrimination against gender, race, age, and ability have been seen in the past and all have been rectified to full inclusion. With states passing discrimination laws, it just goes against what the United States is all about. The United States is a melting pot of all different types of people and it will continue to be that way forever. In order to keep going in the right direction, laws need to be enacted to include all people no matter

what. The new legislation to discriminate against transgenders is immoral and corrupt. These new laws have caused a lot of controversy in the community as well as sports and they need to be repealed.
The new legislation in North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri blocks protection for transgender people. This means that businesses in these states can refuse to serve and discriminate against transgender people if the business does not believe in people being transgender (Domonoske, 2016, p.1). Discrimination is something that the United States has been trying to get away from, but is ultimately failing with this law. No person should be discriminated against because of any reason. Also, transgender people can be fired for no reason because they are not protected under law (Gordon, 2016, p.3). To go along with this law, transgender people must use the bathrooms of the gender that is on their birth certificate. This means that even if someone has had surgeries to completely transform to the other gender, they would still have to use the same bathroom that they would be assigned to at birth. This creates a lot of controversy because if they have transitioned, they are the gender that they transform to and this would make it extremely awkward for them to be in the opposite gender’s bathroom. This can be seen with a tweet from James Sheffield. He posted a picture of himself and stated that “It is now law for me to share a restroom with your wife” (Lopez, 2016, p.1). A fully transitioned male using a female’s bathroom is not right. Finally, states have been using religion as a way to pass these laws, but when you think about it, religion prohibits discrimination, so the laws are contradicting religion.
Much of the United States has responded in ways to protest the new legislation about transgender people. American Airlines, Wells Fargo, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have all expressed concerns about the new legislation and want to boycott the state of North Carolina. The NBA has hinted at moving the All-Star Game from Charlotte to another state (Somashekhar, 2016, p.1). This is making an awful economic impact on these states. With these companies trying to get out of the states of North Carolina, it is taking away business. Also, huge music stars, such as Bruce Springsteen, have cancelled their events in North Carolina (Hamblin, 2016, p. 4). These concerts could bring in a lot of revenue for the state and local businesses, but the legislation has taken that away. People do not want to be in a community with discrimination and the only way to get out is to publicly state and leave those states with the new legislation.
There has been a huge effect of these laws on transgender people across the United States. Many transgender people are afraid to travel down South to the states that have passed this new legislation. Sports with transgender athletes have been greatly affected by the new legislation. Athletes who transition have a hard time deciding when it is a good time to transition and who will support them. With this new legislation, it is very hard for those athletes to transition because it is obvious that their decision will not be supported by their government. Ciaran Gilmore, a former transgender student athlete at Saint Michael’s College, commented on what he went through in order to play sports. He said that it was very important to play sports, but he was very distracted because he wanted to transition. When he transitioned, it was a long and hard ongoing process (C. Gilmore, 2016, personal communication). With the new legislation being passed, he said that “it would be more dangerous for me to go into a women’s restroom” (C. Gilmore, 2016, personal communication). He also said that “if someone is paying that much attention to me, there is something wrong with them” (C. Gilmore, 2016, personal communication). These comments show what transgender people are going through since the laws have been passed. It would be extremely dangerous and a lot more awkward if a transgender used a bathroom that they no longer identify with. Also, if people pay a lot of attention to what others are doing in the bathroom, who is in the wrong there? He believes that he is being his authentic self and that there is a lot of ignorance about transgender people in the United States (C. Gilmore, 2016, personal communication).
The NCAA has voiced their opinion on the new legislation, but it is not enough. The NCAA has stated that they are “monitoring” current events with regards to the legislation (Benbow, 2015, p.1). When something happens that affects many people who are within an organization such as the NCAA, it needs to be taken care of right away. Monitoring the situation at hand is not what needs to be done. The NCAA should step up and take a stand against the legislation if they are against it. They have said that they might change the host cities for the NCAA basketball championships, but once again, the word “might” is a concern (Somashekhar, 2016, p.3). “Might” is not a definite answer to what is going on. The NCAA should either support the legislation or reject it. Anywhere in between does not truly show that the NCAA fully rejects the bill. It could be this or the idea that they might lose money if they do not host the basketball tournament in North Carolina. The next question is: What should be done next?
In order for people to truly accept everyone, they need to be educated.

Education is key to understanding what transgender people go through and why they should be treated as equals. Many people speculate that transgender people are just transitioning so they can sneak a peak of someone in a locker room or a bathroom. Pam Burton of Charlotte, North Carolina stated that “I am not scared of transgender people. That’s not what I think the problem is. Sexual predators are not good people” (Domonoske, 2016, p.2). This statement is just ignorant and if she had the proper education about transgender people, she would understand that they are not sexual predators. Gilmore stated that no person in their right minds would try to transition in order to be a predator or to gain an advantage in sports (2016, personal communication). This statement, coming from a transgender person, is something that runs through the mind of most other transgender people. They transition because they believe they are someone other than who they are living as and it will make them happier in their lives. Education could solve a lot of problems about people who do not accept transgender people as who they are at face value. Once this education is spread throughout the country, transgenders will be able to be accepted and should not have to fear for their lives to use a bathroom, locker room, or even

transition.
Also, in order for transgender people and athletes to feel more comfortable and safe, the new legislation needs to be repealed. A large amount of transgender people are afraid to use the bathroom now in the South because of these new laws. Using a bathroom that you are assigned by your birth certificate can be extremely dangerous. Lara Nazario, a transgender women said that “If I were to walk into a men's bathroom, I would either be told that I'm in the wrong bathroom or I'd be outed as a transgender woman. This can often lead to violence or harassment, especially when there's no protection in place for people like me” (Domonoske, 2016, p.3). With the new dangers that this law presents, it is clear that it will hurt more people than help. There is no law to protect a transgender person in the states with the new legislation and that makes it very easy for violence. When the legislation is repealed, there will not be as much suspicion over whether or not a person is transgender in the bathroom or not.
A great amount of controversy has happened since the passing of the corrupt new legislation about transgender people. Protection has been blocked for transgender people and it is now required that they use the bathroom that their birth certificate identifies with. These laws have been passed based on personal belief as well as religious belief. This should not happen because religion does not allow discrimination of any kind. Many companies have also began to boycott the states that have passed this new legislation and that could have a huge impact on their economies. Also, with the new legislation, transgender people are afraid to travel to the South because a lot of violence could happen because of it. This is because of the ignorance that people have about the subject of transgender people. Transgender people have a tough time transitioning because they are afraid of what people will think of them and it is made even tougher when sports are in the question. The NCAA has stated that they will be monitoring the situation, but that is not enough. They need to give a definite answer and it would show that they will not allow any form of discrimination. Finally, in order for these laws to be repealed, there needs to be a lot of education on the subject of transgender people. With education, people will understand how hard it is for transgender people to be who they are. Once the legislation is repealed, it will lead to inclusion and a safe environment for all transgender people in the community and in sports.