Soon I'll occupy the men's room stall next to you. Thank the Ohio Legislature. |

[Jessica_Rose]

Soon I'll occupy the men's room stall next to you. Thank the Ohio Legislature.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/soon-i-ll-occupy-the-men-s-room-stall-next-to-you-thank-the-ohio-legislature-opinion/ar-AA1v3ZJS?ocid=windirect&cvid=c827ad3182ab48da9388f025b81a8d7a&ei=5

Opinion by Samantha Sapp (1 Dec 2024)

I'm a 26-year-old woman, former middle school teacher, current graduate student at Miami University, and soon I'll occupy the stall next to you in the university men's bathroom!

Thank the Ohio Legislature. In typical fashion, they added a partisan amendment to a previously bipartisan education bill they just passed. The amendment stipulates that all students in Ohio, including university students, must use the bathroom that corresponds to the sex assigned to them at birth. It's a classic "bathroom bill" and yet another symbol of our state's inability to focus on the actual problems that face us.

I've never had trouble with students or colleagues over the quirk of my birth, in part because I am a woman in the eyes of the law and the people I interact with daily... So when people who have transitioned like me are forced to use the wrong bathroom, it comes at the risk of our safety.

Back when I taught seventh grade in Preble County, on my commute I'd pass the campground where a trans man, Noah Ruiz, was assaulted while using the women's bathroom at the request of the owner. This is the central irony of the bill − proponents argue that it is about protecting people, but it is directly putting people like me in danger.