Bathroom bills just another form of bullying

Nex, who identified as nonbinary, had experienced worsening bullying at school. As Nex told police at the hospital, their frustration spilled over when they entered the bathroom with friends and three girls made fun of the way they laughed and dressed. When Nex poured water on them from a water bottle, the girls jumped the teen. Nex couldn't say much about the beating because they “blacked out.”

The next day, the teen was dead, causing an outpouring of grief and outrage from trans communities and allies from coast to coast.

The medical examiner released a preliminary finding Nex did not die as a result of trauma, and weary allies shook their heads. The child is still dead. If they ingested drugs or died by suicide or the beating triggered a pre-existing condition, the bullying at the root would remain unchanged.

Nex lived in a state with a bathroom bill, which since 2022 has required school students to use restrooms aligning with their birth sex. It was the third anti-trans bill signed by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt that year.

The day they were beaten, Nex was using the “correct” bathroom, according to state law. In a condolence statement, the governor said “bullies must be held accountable,” with no apparent self-reflection.

Bathroom bills are purely cynical vote-grabbers, serving no other function than to demonize trans existence and soothe heteronormative fragility. That may sound extremely biased, but having followed this issue over several years, it's as scrupulously objective as I can be.

Bathroom bills do not protect women. That's a fact, not an opinion. Studies stretching back more than five years show trans-inclusive policies do not increase safety risks in public washrooms. Trans women do not enter the ladies' room to attack women. They go there to relieve themselves, check the mirror, exit a stale conversation or peek at their phone, like the rest of us gals.

It's absurd to suggest predatory men will take advantage of trans-inclusive spaces to scam their way into bathrooms they can enter by simply nudging the door open. It's a red herring that does nothing to protect women, but lots to harm trans folk.

Forcing gender non-conforming people to use facilities that don't align with their identity exposes them to harassment, abuse and sexual assault, including in schools. Such policies can cause students to avoid the bathroom entirely, interfering with their studies, social activities, and urinary and bowel health. More than a dozen health organizations, including the American Medical Association, strongly advocate for policies allowing students to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.

Restricting bathroom access also tacitly encourages other students to act as the “bathroom police,” challenging whether people belong in the name of following the rules. It is institutionalized bullying, and the consequences can be not just harmful, but tragic.

Canada is not immune. At last fall's policy convention, a gobsmacking 87 per cent of Conservative Party delegates voted in favour of a plan to keep gender diverse people out of women's washrooms, shelters and other gendered spaces. It's not binding, but party leader Pierre Poilievre recently signalled his agreement.

“Female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males,” he said this month, choosing language that denigrates the experiences of trans women.

These failed policies cause grave harm. They protect no one. Bullies must be held accountable.