Press "Enter" to skip to content

Letter to use when writing in support of trans* rights

Dear [representative, senator, dean, administrator, etc.],

My name is [_______] and I am a [citizen, resident, etc.] of [city, district, state, etc.]. I am writing to encourage your institution to follow the directive put forth by the Obama administration regarding trans* students using bathrooms, despite the current administration’s rollback.

Legislation and policies that require trans* people to use the restroom that aligns with their birth certificate may seem to protect the privacy of women and children, but the numbers don’t back this up. Trans* people are far more likely to be harassed or assaulted in bathrooms than cis (non-trans) people. The 2015 National Center for Transgender Equality found that 12% of trans* people were verbally harassed in public restrooms, and 59% of trans* people avoided using public restrooms. Additionally, these kinds of laws and rules will do nothing to prevent real predators from entering bathrooms and hurting people. Predators are not looking for legal permission to harm people!

Trans* people want private and safe access to public restrooms for the same reasons as everybody else: to relieve their natural bodily functions. Preventing trans* students from using public restrooms does nothing to protect privacy. Rather, it encourages people to question the identities of trans* people and effectively bans them from public spaces. A student who does not feel safe using the bathroom at school is not able to focus fully on their education. This is discrimination and it is unacceptable.

I strongly encourage you to support legislation and policies that protect the right of trans* students to use the public restrooms that align with their gender identities on school campuses so that all students are able to pursue education to the best of their abilities.

Sincerely,
[name]

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Next:
On January 21, 2017, thousands marched in the Women’s March.…