A transgender named Tyler, age 9, is speaking up about the big bathroom debate in the United States. He says that arguing about it is stupid when the world is besieged with more pressing problems.
Tyler has professed that he's a boy at age 2 despite his birth certificate saying he's a girl. He's been using the boy's bathroom at his school in Maryland. However, in North Carolina, doing so would be cited as breaking the law.
"I think it's mostly stupid to care about where I go to the bathroom," he said, per Washington Post. The third grader insists that the world needs to focus on other problems like war, pollution and hunger instead.
Tyler is not alone in believing that the bathroom debate is detrimental to society's growth and progress. His mother, Jean, expressed shock over the issue. "Now I have to check the laws before we travel," she told the Post.
Jean actually keeps a file of her son's gender dysphoria diagnosis and doctor's prescription with her at all times. She constantly worries about protecting her son's rights given that anti-LGBT laws exist in some states.
Proponents against transgender bathrooms say it is an issue about privacy and safety, despite the Justice Department saying that the law triggers hate crimes. In fact, the federal agency is suing North Carolina for passing the transgender bathroom law, Parent Herald reports. In some schools in the state, students are encouraged to use pepper sprays against transgender kids using the wrong bathroom, per another Parent Herald report.
On the other hand, proponents for transgender bathrooms say that such laws were created due to the lack of understanding and education about transgender. Even President Obama has weighed in on the controversy and ordered the Department of Education to establish new guidelines about bathrooms in schools. "I think it's part of our obligation as a society to make sure everybody is treated fairly, and our kids are all loved and protected, and that their dignity is affirmed," Obama said, per USA Today.
Meanwhile, Tyler's parents continuously talk to him about being transgender, especially every start of the school year. But the boy is adamant and certain of his identity and right now, he's more concerned about playing video games, like a typical kid, than listening to transgender debates. "Really, at this point, [being transgender has] become such a small part of who he is," Jean said.
Where do you stand on this issue and do you agree with Tyler's simple conclusion? Let us know in the comments!