Why the “transgender” bathroom controversy should make us rethink sex-segregated public bathrooms

This article draws a theoretical distinction between “transgender” as an identity, and “transgender” as a form of discrimination, in order to better understand the political stakes of recent and ongoing “bathroom bills” that restrict access to sex-segregated public restrooms to our “biological sex.” Some, but not all, transgender people encounter discrimination in sex-segregated bathrooms. And many people who do not self-identify as transgender are in fact harmed by this institutionalized social custom. This includes masculine-appearing cisgender women, feminine-appearing cisgender men, as well as all people who are directed to use female-designated bathrooms. I describe this far-reaching sexism as sex-identity discrimination. And because sex-segregated public restrooms, by their very nature, always prompt and enable this kind of discrimination, I argue that we should eliminate them, and use inclusive design to build no-gender public restrooms that meet our reasonable expectations for personal privacy and safety.