Bathrooms are separated into two genders, male and female, but there are more genders today then there were all those years ago. There are trans men/women, non-binary, genderfluid, and so many more, and they all have to choose a bathroom. Now some of you might not know what some of those terms meant, so here’s a brief explanation.

Trans is when someone feels and switches to the opposite gender, male to female (Trans Female) or female to male (Trans Male). Non-binary is when you don’t associate with either gender, you are just you. Genderfluid means you go back and forth on the gender spectrum, you can feel feminine one day and masculine another, or neither. And these are only a small portion of what is out there.

For trans men and women it can be hard, getting funny looks or getting discriminated, possibly causing dysphoria for the person. For non-binary it can be mean to make them choose male or female, possibly causing dysphoria for the person. For genderfluids it can be seen as being indecisive, going to one bathroom one day and a different one the next, they can be harassed to just pick one a stick with it, also possibly causing dysphoria for the person.

If you noticed, there was common issue with those examples, dysphoria. Dysphoria is a state in which one is not happy or content with something, like your own gender or body for example. It is common among people who change their gender, they probably felt dysphoric before making the change, and they feel more at ease with themselves after making the changes they want.

But bathrooms can take down all that progress of feeling better about themselves, the decision or habit of choosing one of the two genders. And the problem has always been there, it just hasn’t been noticed or thought about a lot before. Bathrooms should be more than just male and female. Maybe even adding a third option could help, a bathroom for any gender.

But there is the issue of people abusing this, using it just for convenience when they can use the other restrooms. Bathrooms for either or any genders already exist, but they seem to be rare. So let’s fix that, lets make it more comfortable for the ones who struggle with the discrimination against what bathroom they use.

It would be so much better for the ones getting harassed, making them feel like they belong. But this could have never been an issue if people weren’t so ignorant. People who harass and discriminate those people are just ignorant about the way people feel. They say they feel uncomfortable with these “people” in their restrooms, but are you thinking about how those “people” feel?

The solution should be more inclusive bathrooms (male/female/other). There should be awareness that the people who you think should not use that restroom have feeling to, and that you have no right in saying whether or not they can do this or that. This can be an easy fix, even though it shouldn’t have to be.