There is a grand scale debate over the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms into public locations as well as businesses and schools. The controversy between allowing and forbidding gender-neutral bathrooms has begun to grow steam, becoming an important issue that many cities are facing: Should we build gender neutral bathrooms and how will this change affect society?  Some believe that it will cause a safety issue, others state that slowly incorporating them into society it won't be such a big deal.  I believe that if correctly applied, gender-neutral bathrooms have my full support. I had previously had voted on this issue at my home town before researching about it or educating myself on both sides of the argument.  My church had first told me about this topic and I had only heard it from the opposing side's point of view.  After doing some research I realized that the way I had voted was truly not the way I should have.  This research question affects almost everyone who use public restrooms.  Although I've been taught all my life to be against something of this caliber, due to my strong Christian upbringing,  I believe that everyone should be given a fair and equal opportunity to be accepted in today's society. 

In an article written by Mark Price about Charlotte's rejected transgender policy focuses on a "nondiscrimination" proposal for private businesses to accommodate cis-gendered people access to the restroom of their gender identity.  The main argument of those who opposed the proposal, was that the passing of the proposal would endanger women and children, leaving them more susceptible to harm.  Those who voted against however aren't thinking of those who are cis-gendered, or those who don't identify with the gender they were given at birth, only worrying about themselves and not about how others may be affected.  The author is biased towards the side against gender-neutral bathrooms, since the author is a writer for a local newspaper and is only interviewing the side of the people who rejected the proposal and won.   This article made me think of how many people were truly educated on how cis-gendered people feel and how they are affected.  This article did not change my opinion on gender-neutral bathrooms, and I disagree with the proposal being rejected. 

In an article written by Elizabeth Brown about The biggest obstacle to gender neutral bathrooms is focused on several different boundaries that face those who are advocates of a gender neutral bathroom.  The article states that today there are two separate federal agencies that dictate public bathroom rules, the U.S Department of Labor for workplace restrooms and the Department of Health and Human Services for non-workplace restrooms.  These departments are inhibiting the possibility of gender neutral bathrooms, so if reform is truly sought after it may need to be dealt with starting with the Department of Labor and the Human Health Services.  Reason.com is a non-profit organization that covers politics and culture.  Elizabeth Brown has written for different websites and articles, such as TIME, Fox News, and Libertarianism.org in which she writes mainly about gender issues, sex policy, and criminal justice reform.  This article made me think of how it may not be easy to reform at the national level.  It did not change my opinion, but however made me more aware of the severity of the situation.

The final article written by Kate Steinmetz is about how the gender neutral bathroom revolution is growing, which focuses on a recently proposed bill to support single-occupancy bathrooms in the city of San Francisco for all genders.  This area is known for being one of the most LGBT friendly cities.  The author states that it should be easily passed and that the Transgender Law Center is actively speaking out for its cause.  The department stated that many people right now are negatively affected by gender-specific restrooms, like elderly caretakers, women standing in long lines while the men's restroom is near vacant, or a mother wanting to accompany her child in the bathroom.  The author is a writer for TIME magazine, which is extremely credible and she is the San Francisco Bureau chief for TIME as well.   I completely agree with the author, gender-specific bathrooms are only causing harm and that should be considered in all cities.

Whether or not gender-neutral bathrooms should be passed is a hot topic in today's society.  While some are concerned about the safety of those who currently using the bathroom in peace, others are worried about having a peaceful place to use the bathroom.  If implemented on a small-scale primarily, individual bathrooms, then progressively introducing it into society there will be less problems than what is projected by the opposing citizens.  As this spreads to future cities, informing people of the logistics behind the proposal and not letting people form an opinion based off of the title of the proposal, there would be more support.  

