When it comes to the bathroom usage, it apparently becomes a serious issue to the school when a transgender student is involved. Most LGBT students have struggled with their identity their entire life and bringing the conflict to school bathrooms only makes matters worse.

Being a transgender itself isn’t easy. It wasn’t seen as normal especially in the 20th century and to some, the concept still isn’t accepted.

You can’t exactly know what it feels like to be transgender if you’re not one yourself. All the tears that are shed by all the struggles one has to go through, hoping for acceptance from your family and fellow peers, and dealing with self loathing at one point in one’s life is something that most people don’t see.

Some people can’t begin to understand how badly they treat others for being different. It could almost be considered inhumane, despite the fact that discrimination has been going on for quite some time.

Don’t judge someone for who they are when they can’t help it. Instead of mistreating someone for their differences, appreciate them and treat them as you would any other.

In 2014, VHSL decided to allow transgender athletes to participate in sports only once they’ve gone through gender reassignment surgery. Not everyone has the money to pay for sex-change surgery no matter how badly they want it. It just seems unfair for the person to go through such change if they just want to play a sport.

The same year, FCPS stated that gender identity is included in their non-discrimination policies. Even so, there have been cases where transgender students are denied the right to use the bathroom of their choosing because they weren’t born as the gender they identify with now. The media has taken its power to spread the news, making it a highly discussed issue.

Transgender students should be able to use the bathroom of the specific gender they identify with, without having the fear of being picked on by other students.

The fact that some transgender people don’t feel comfortable with using either bathroom in fear of being teased constantly is only part of the reason as to why this issue is still going on. Even though neutral bathrooms might serve a good purpose and could be an option, it’s not for most transgender people.

Most, if not all transgenders struggle with gaining people’s understanding as to who they are and all they truly want is to be seen as the gender they identify.

So if school boards decide to enforce neutral bathrooms, it’s basically another way of saying and making them feel like they’re not the gender they feel they are.

Pronouns matter to transgenders and making them go to different bathrooms besides the one they feel is right defeats the purpose.

Gender and sexual orientation are two completely different things. Many people get confused about this, when it’s actually really simple. Your gender is what you identify as whether it is male or female.

Your sexual orientation is who you are sexually attracted to whether you are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual for example. A transgender female can also be attracted to females, males or maybe even both, but that does not affect the fact that she is a transgender.

There are so many sexual orientations out there, besides gay, bisexual or straight, that one can’t even begin to explain them all at once.

People should do research if they would like to be more informed instead of scratching their heads and assuming stuff they don’t know.

It’s very disrespectful of someone if they don’t call a transgender person by what they go by. No one would want to go labeled as something that they’re not.

The reality of transgender, lesbian, bisexual and gay struggles is still here. It isn’t as evident as it use to be when most of society was not accepting of people being different, but it’s still here.

Discrimination towards the LGBT community is evident in most of the world. Whether someone is being excluded in social activities, being treated differently in local businesses or simply just being made fun of is alarming.

America has gone a long way from where it started and when it comes to accepting and appreciating everyone for their differences, the public has become a lot more accepting. As time advances it will hopefully improve even more in better ways.