The new North Carolina bathroom law states that public schools, public universities and government agencies must designate bathrooms and locker rooms to people based on their biological sex. Critics of the law warned that it would do more harm than good despite the belief that the law actually grants new accommodation to transgender people.
The law states that transgender people can use bathrooms that match their gender identities only if their birth certificates have changed. In North Carolina, this would require a sexual reassignment surgery.
Any day now, the rule by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond could be determined. The law has promoted a national backlash as politicians and businesses have announced plans to boycott North Carolina.
The bill by North Carolina was unveiled, debated upon and signed into law in just a single day. North Carolina is the first state to require public school and university students to only use bathrooms based on their birth certificates, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Unfortunately, the bill has put transgender people in difficult and uncomfortable positions. Critics have warned of the potential downside of the law aside from denying people equal protection rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Research shows that restricting bathroom access based on a person's biological sex may lead to negative consequences on their education and employment. When people start to avoid using public bathrooms due to avoidance of uncomfortable situations, this may lead to health problems such as dehydration, urinary tract infections and kidney infections.
In Virginia, a school board ordered a teenager to not use the boys' room. The teenager named Gavin Grimm was born female but identifies as male, according to KFDI.
According to Grimm, he needs to take a "walk of shame" every time he goes to the restroom at Gloucester High School. "I did not set out to make waves - I set out to use the bathroom," said Grimm.
Similarly, a transgender named Charlie Comero from Charlotte claims that he is not comfortable being forced to pee with women. Comero does not identify with the gender of his birth certificate as he was born a girl but identifies as a boy, according to My Fox 8.
Comero said that he hopes to turn awkward encounters in the bathroom as teachable moments. "How I feel and who I am does not match my birth certificate, but the law is making me go to the women's restroom even if I identify as a transgender man," said Comero.
