For transgender individuals, choosing which bathroom to go into can be a dilemma.
Do they go in the bathroom they are biologically assigned to?
Or do they use the one they feel most comfortable in?
Could there be a neutral option?
Students on campus tried to draw attention to those issues and others faced by transgender individuals by having a "bathroom crawl" Wednesday.
Advocating for MSU to include gender identity in its anti-discrimination policy, students visited bathrooms on campus and talked about creating gender-neutral bathrooms.
MSU has a policy that prohibits members of the opposite sex from going into a bathroom although there are several exceptions.
Transgender applies to individuals who live their lives as a member of the opposite gender rather than what is determined by anatomical sex.
A female-to-male transgender individual could face harassment by other people who don't understand transgender issues.
It's a touchy subject when something as intimate and private as gender clashes with public issues such as who can use public bathrooms.
The concerns of people who might not want to share a bathroom with someone of the opposite biological sex shouldn't be discounted.
It's understandable that a woman might feel uncomfortable with a male-to-female transgender person in the stall next to her.
But the concerns of transgender people need to be considered, too.
The university should consider creating unisex bathrooms in several buildings and dorms on campus.
A less costly, but probably more challenging option, is for people to be more open-minded about sharing a bathroom with a transgender person.
We are all humans, who all need to go to the bathroom, and no one should face harassment or violence when performing this necessary function.
You might feel awkward for a minute if a transgender person of the opposite sex is in the bathroom with you.
But is your three minutes of discomfort worth more than allowing someone to go to the bathroom?
We are in there for such a short time — let others do what they need to do.
It's a complex subject, but for the people on this campus who face this dilemma every day, it's one we need to tackle.
