Lubbock students join national conversation about transgender bathrooms
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - As North Carolina and the federal government battle over the legality of regulating bathroom use, debate over the issue of transgender bathrooms has spread across the nation, including here at home.
Alec Wallace is the chair of the Young Conservatives of Texas at Texas Tech. He says he feels like allowing transgender people to choose which restroom they use would make most people uncomfortable, and that makes it "unrealistic."
"That's what's made America so great is that we've learned that you can't make everyone happy; we just have to make the majority happy and unfortunately some people are going to feel uncomfortable," Wallace said. "I hate that it's that way but that's just the way we have to make laws for the majority and unfortunately some minority people will get left out."
Reese Ramsey is president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Texas Tech. He says transgender people have already been using their restroom of choice.
"There's those people that are a transgender male that look very masculine but on his birth certificate it might not say male, so it's putting these very masculine people in women's restrooms. I think that defeats the purpose of the entire bill because you are putting trans men in women's restrooms," Ramsey said.
Wallace says he gets frustrated when name-calling happens; he says it's an attempt to infringe on his freedom of speech.
"I've really had an issue when people go and refer to me as transphobic because I believe that men should go in the men's restroom and women should go in the women's restroom, and if you're a dude with a beard and a dress on you can take it home" Wallace said.
"I guess the real issue is sexual assault," Ramsey said. "But they're marginalizing a community that already faces sexual assault, rape, murder, suicide and they're comparing these people to sexual predators when the reality is, all these people want to do is just pee in peace."
No laws have changed here in Lubbock but we will keep you posted with any developments both here at home and nationally.
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