Recently, a national debate has erupted throughout America. Should gender neutral bathrooms be introduced on a national scale and be provided in all public places?

Gender neutral bathrooms would benefit the majority of society, and benefit people who have a difficult time identifying their gender. With the progressive mindset that has emerged, more and more people are coming to feel confident with their own self-expression. Nevertheless, a lot of people still struggle to identify and come to terms with how they identify themselves. Creating gender neutral bathrooms would diminish one of the most popular fears of people who aren’t CIS (Cisgender is a term for people whose experiences of their own gender agree with the sex they were assigned at birth). When you don’t identify as being a male, but society forces you to use the male’s restroom, it can be unnerving. A gender neutral bathroom would be a safe place for anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable going to a bathroom that correlates to the gender given to them at birth.

Another reason that gender neutral bathrooms would benefit the majority of society is for parents or caregivers with young children who aren’t the same gender. A lot of people get uncomfortable when a women walks into the ladies room with a boy child, or vice versa. Having a bathroom for parents to take care of their kids, regardless of gender, that doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable and is appropriate, could help lessen ones fear of using a public bathroom.

A bathroom shouldn’t be a place that makes you uncomfortable. It should be a solitary place that is used for its primary function. In an age with as much change as there is now, there will inevitably be a variety of controversies that arise in America. Changing a simple thing like turning a designated male or female bathroom into a gender neutral bathroom would be easy, inexpensive, and help our changing American society feel more comfortable.