How long have transgender people been using public restrooms? How about forever?

I don’t understand the controversy about transgender people using public restrooms, considering that it has been going on forever and most of us didn’t even know it. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first, consider this:

* A woman goes into a women’s restroom. She has female parts so she uses a stall. She’s in there alone so no one watches her.

* A transgender woman goes into a women’s restroom. She has male parts but there are no urinals so she uses a stall. She’s in there alone so no one watches her.

* A transgender man goes into a men’s restroom. He has female parts so he uses a stall. He’s in there alone so no one watches him.

I don’t see the problem here.

* On the other hand, a man goes into a men’s restroom. He has male parts so he uses a urinal -- maybe one in a whole line of urinals -- where everyone could watch him if they wanted to. Why is no one complaining about this?

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OK, so the first transgender person I remember being aware of was Richard Raskind, the American ophthalmologist who had some success as a professional tennis player until 1975, when he underwent male-to-female sex reassignment surgery and became Renée Richards. Richards was then denied entry as a woman into the 1976 U.S. Open by the United States Tennis Association. Eventually, the New York Supreme Court ruled in her favor in a 1977 decision in support of transsexual rights.

I got curious about the history of transgender individuals so I used the google to find more information, and what do you know? It turns out there have been transgender people, well, forever. They didn’t start to exist with Dr. Raskind or when Bruce Jenner recently switched sides.

In the earliest ages, transgender people not only existed but were thought to possess special wisdom that other people did not. Google offers way too many examples of transgender culture in various civilizations to try to post them all here (the Romans, for example, embraced both transgender and homosexual relationships), but feel free to look it up yourself.

The point is, there have always been transgender people and they have had access to public restrooms for as long as there have been public restrooms. None of us who are not transgender can say how many times we have shared a public restroom, and that’s a fact. Think about how many times you have used the restroom in a busy airport, at a football game with 75,000 other people, in a movie theater, restaurant or bar or anywhere else, for that matter.

What are the odds that you have NEVER shared a restroom with a transgender person?

Now, how many times have you (or your children) been molested in one?

The idea that someone wants to molest your children in a public toilet with other people around and you waiting right outside the door just doesn’t make sense. I’d be more concerned about my child walking home from school alone, or playing on a crowded playground or even in your own home with a babysitter…like your weird uncle Cletus.

So I ask again, what’s the problem here? What are the odds that transgender people are lurking in public restrooms just waiting for you or your family? Why is this an issue and why now? 

And what the hell is wrong with North Carolina?