When it comes to transgender students, it's time to prioritize safety over comfort

It’s good to see that the Sacramento City Unified School District is moving forward with a new policy to integrate and protect transgender students. Assembly Bill 1266, passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor in the last session, went into effect January 1, even as some groups attempted to overturn the law.

We’re pleased that no matter what the ultimate outcome of various suits and a potential referendum, SCUSD moved promptly to ensure student safety at school.

It is, however, disheartening to see continued prejudice and misunderstanding about trans people making its way into the discussion.

Opponents of trans-inclusive policies always make a point of expressing their fears of loss of privacy in the bathroom and locker room. It even came up in a Sacramento City Council discussion in October 2013, when Councilman Allen Warren expressed his concerns about who could use what bathroom if the city updated its codes to include protection of gender-identity expression.

We don’t want to minimize the discomfort or concerns of any “cisgender” people—that means those who are comfortable in the gender (usually male or female) that they were assigned at birth, based on anatomy—with these changes. Nonetheless, it’s also worth pointing out that ensuring the rights and safety of transgender people should take priority over the comfort of others.

In general, transgender and gender-variant people are more likely to be the victims of crimes, assaults and bullying than cisgender people in precisely the same circumstances. Sometimes those “uncomfortable” cisgender people are the ones who inflict violence. For evidence, we need only remember the “agender” youth who was set on fire on Bay Area public transport for wearing a skirt in November 2013. Sasha Fleischman wasn’t safe on the bus.

What’s more, all students could benefit from attention to safety and privacy in restrooms and locker rooms. There’s more than a small amount of bullying and body shaming that goes on in those spaces, and ignoring it because “it’s always been that way” only guarantees that it will stay that way.

While some of us argue about restrooms, transgender youth endure physical, mental and emotional abuse.

Gender identity difference isn’t new: Trans and other gender-variant people have been with us all along. The difference is that in days gone by, we could feel comfortable in our majority and ignore the suffering of those different from us. Just as lesbian, gay and bi students have been historically victimized—and still are despite recent civil-rights gains and anti-bullying protections—so too have trans students suffered.

We are long past the time in which it was all right to ignore—or worse, bully—those who differed from the majority.

Stop obsessing over restrooms and locker rooms. If they’re not safe for one student, they’re not safe for any students. Instead, let’s make sure that all these spaces are safe, private and accessible.

And, instead of obsessing about whether transgender and gender-variant people deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and compassion, we should remember that basic expressions of humanity ought not be optional.