“It was never about bathrooms, just like it was never about water fountains.” This is my current favorite sign seen at a protest/rally. And with the White House reversing the last administration’s instructions to schools on transgender issues, gender is in the headlines again. Trump has basically tossed this one back to each state, saying that this is a state’s rights issue, instead of one about human rights.

Before the civil rights movement, we had segregated water fountains, bathrooms, lunch counters and public transportation, among other things. And while the discussion didn’t always go that way, we’ve made a lot of progress on defining people who happen to have been born with black skin as “human beings.” Just like the rest of us. With human feelings, aspirations, and rights. In particular, rights to equality of treatment in public. In our country, treating people unequally because of their skin color, religion or beliefs is wrong. The government can’t do it, and other citizens can’t either.

That last sentence is contentious, and is a central point here. It boils down to “what is liberty?” You certainly have the right to THINK whatever you want to think about anyone else for any reason. And you generally have the right to SAY whatever you like, although here we need to start being careful. If what you say harms another person, your rights just went away — your rights end at the next person’s nose, and harm is not allowed. What’s clearer is the rules on what you can DO — and you simply can’t do things that harm others. That’s not liberty — it is bullying, assault, or when the government does it a violation of human rights. It’s tricky to define “harm” in any given situation, but that is exactly what we have to do. We don’t get to avoid it just because it is hard.

So back to the current situation. At this time in our history, transgender people are coming into the public light more and more. This isn’t to say that being transgender is a NEW thing — rather than society has started to recognize that trans people exist, largely because this group is becoming more comfortable and/or brave in being themselves in public situations. And as with anything “new” (to the masses), some people find this to be strange. And some see it as creepy or oogey. Others as offensive to their beliefs. While I would like those who don’t understand it to meet more trans people and have more conversations about their choices, that is really a long-term thing. On the positive side, I know and work with a lot of people in younger generations, and I am very comfortable that this will not be anywhere near as big an issue in a few decades.

For now though, the more fundamental question is what rights transgender people should have based on their choices. And the answer is simple: all of the same rights that anyone else has.

Enter the bathroom issue. Should a biological male who gender-identifies as a female be allowed to use a women’s bathroom? I notice that those opposed rarely talk about the opposite for some reason. There is an enormous lack of information and understanding on this issue, that leads to fear, and that fear is leading to public policy problems. Again though, while you can be afraid, acting on your fear in a way that harms someone else is a problem.

Are transgender people harmed by not being allowed to use the bathroom of their gender choice? Absolutely. These is mental and emotional harm. Ostracization for a group already ostracized. Singling out for special restrictions. Replace the word “transgender” with “black,” and “bathroom” with “water fountain,” and ask the question again.

Note that this is not a question of whether you have the human right to use the bathroom of your choice. You don’t. btw, this also applies to cis-gender males and females (those who identify with their biological birth gender.) If you were born with a penis and have always gender-identified as male, you DO NOT have a RIGHT to use a “mens” bathroom because of that! That is really not the issue. What you have is the right to be treated equally, like everyone else. And this is the part our society doesn’t understand, and the part where analogies to rights based on race are very strong.

It’s not about bathrooms, it’s about individual human rights and not treating people differently because of their personal characteristics and choices. Society created the separation of bathrooms by sexes/genders. This has long standing, just like racial segregation. And ever since we started going to the bathroom as groups (instead of in an outhouse by yourself), this has been the way things are. But there is no right to that, and the only reason we keep doing it is because we’ve always done it that way.

In terms of human rights, there is absolutely no reason we can’t have mixed sex/gender bathrooms. Imagine, if you will, a single bathroom for everyone, with individual stalls where we take care of our bodily functions. Some people (mostly younger) would get used to it very quickly. Others would grumble for a long time about how it’s not right — and they would either use the group bathroom, or hold it until they got home. Some places might opt for more one-holers, where you have the bathroom all to yourself. btw, there are people right now who can’t pee in a room with others, and they hold it. That’s their choice. But having universal bathrooms would not raise “rights” issues, or if it did they would be silly. I’m not advocating for this, just pointing out that our current situation is a social construction — this is not a problem per se, UNLESS that social construction (like segregated fountains) is harming people.

There are, of course, the arguments that predators will dress as women and go into girls rooms to molest our young females. Which are complete and utter BS. If a predator wants to molest someone, they don’t need to dress as a different sex to do it. They just follow a person into a bathroom when no one else is in there and molest them. The idea that predators are transgender or transvestite is not just wrong, but it is offensive to those who are. Predators exist. And we should do everything we can to stop them in advance and punish them after the fact. But that has absolutely nothing to do with gender identity.

So where does that leave us? With transgender human beings expressing their gender identities in public, and wanting that to include one of the most basic human needs, going to the bathroom. And government’s (in schools and elsewhere, including in private establishments open to the public) in some cases attempting to stop that, in large part because a not-insignificant portion of society doesn’t like it, and thinks it is oogey.

In the end, it all comes down to the fact that these transgender human beings are suffering harm by these policies and actions. And that violates their liberty. Which is the place at which our social norms, just like the racist water fountains, need to change.