**TL;DR: Transgender people are the gender that they identify with and should be allowed in that selected sexes bathroom** [Studies have shown] (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180524112351.htm) that transgender adolescent brain activity more resembles that of the desired gender. If they identify as a specific gender and feel like a specific gender then they should be allowed in a bathroom of their choosing. It would be highly distressing for a transgender person to be forced into a bathroom in which they do no feel comfortable. [Transgender women experience depression] (https://www.hindawi.com/journals/drt/2014/394283/) at a higher rate than the general population. Attitudes around which bathroom they should go in are likely to contribute to this. If the transgender person feels comfortable going into the bathroom of the gender they identify with, then they should be allowed to.

**TW Sexual violence** **TL;DR: Preventing transgender people from using their preferred bathrooms puts them at risk of harm** The most prevalent argument against transgender people using the bathrooms of their choice claims that this would put more cisgender women at [risk of sexual violence](https://www.vox.com/2016/5/5/11592908/transgender-bathroom-laws-rights). Such opponents fear that this ruling could enable cisgender, heterosexual male predators to ‘disguise’ themselves as transgender women in order to sexually assault women in this confined space. This speculation has been found unwarranted: [the Equality Federation](https://time.com/4314896/transgender-bathroom-bill-male-predators-argument/) records no increase in this behaviour in places with LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws in place (where transgender people are officially allowed to use whichever bathroom they feel most comfortable in). Instead, transgender people are put at risk of sexual violence by not being allowed to use the bathrooms of their reassigned gender. Sadly, nearly half of transgender men and women experience sexual assault in their lifetime. The [2015 US Transgender survey](https://vawnet.org/sc/serving-trans-and-non-binary-survivors-domestic-and-sexual-violence/violence-against-trans-and) found that 47% of respondents had experienced sexual assault in their lifetime, with higher figures for trans POC. The activist [Christine Burns](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36395646) argues that "It's clearly not safe to require somebody who presents as a woman to go into a men's toilet. The evidence is, from the cases that have happened, is that real assault takes place, real people get hurt”. As a society, we should ensure that transgender people can choose which bathroom they use in order to protect them from harm.

Wherever they feel most comfortable is where they should go; a lot of trans people don't "pass" as their gender but they still are that gender

transgenders should either create their own spaces or use the spaces designated to their birth sex. Identity does not give you the right to go into the opposite spaces simply because of feelings and surgeries. bathrooms, sports, and locker rooms are separated by sex for a reason. Women, for example, don't feel safe with having bio men in their locker rooms. Take a look at the Wi Spa incident. Also, consider how a school in Virginia tried to cover up trans student r@ping two female students because the school let them into the bathroom they identified with. Does this mean all trans are bad? No, absolutely not. But that doesn't mean we should leave the door open. Find a way to create a space that keeps both trans and men and women safe.