Trans People Deserve Safety in the Bathroom

I took this self-portrait after the heartbreaking death of Nex Benedict — a 16-year-old trans student who was attacked in a school bathroom in Oklahoma in February 2024.

A school bathroom. A place where kids are supposed to feel safe. A place that’s supposed to offer privacy, protection, and peace. But instead, Nex was beaten by a group of older girls in the girls’ restroom — the bathroom he was forced to use under Oklahoma’s anti-trans laws. The school didn’t call the police. They didn’t protect him. They didn’t do anything. Nex was sent to the office, suspended for two weeks, and after being taken to the hospital by his grandmother — he died two days later.

No accountability. No answers. These laws, the government, this world, is failing our trans kids and it breaks my heart.

Last month, the U.K. Supreme Court said the terms "woman" and "sex" in the 2010 Equality Act "refer to a biological woman and biological sex".

This decision has led to policies that exclude trans women from women’s spaces, including restrooms. These policies are not about protection. It’s about drawing lines around who gets to be seen and who doesn’t. They reinforce outdated patriarchal assumptions that reduce women to their reproductive capacities and invalidate anyone who does not conform. This ruling impacts everyone. Not just trans people. 

They always claim this is about protecting women’s spaces but… you do realize this would mean trans MEN would have to use the women’s restroom. Trans men are constantly left out of this conversation. But why? Here’s the thing no one ever wants to talk about — if these laws were truly about “protecting women,” why would they want to force men to use the women’s restroom?

They don’t include trans men in the conversation because it breaks their argument wide open.

This has never been about safety. It’s about erasing trans people from public life altogether.

There are currently 19 U.S. states with laws restricting trans people from using public restrooms that align with their gender identity. That’s nearly half the country. And more are trying to follow. These laws vary, but the harm is the same: they isolate, criminalize, and endanger trans people.

And let me clear something else up: There is no evidence that trans women are a threat in bathrooms. The only people pretending to be women to get into women’s spaces and hurt them are cis men. That’s who this fear is really about — but no one seems to be ready to talk about that. So I’ll say it for you. You’re afraid of cis men, not trans women.

Instead, the trans community who’s already incredibly vulnerable — gets the blame. We gets the bans. We get the fear-mongering. We get the violence.

I’m tired of this conversation being framed like trans people are a threat when we’re the ones being attacked, shut out, and killed. It’s always easier to blame a marginalized community than to confront the people in power who are actually responsible.

We all deserve safety. We all deserve dignity. Trans people are not going anywhere — and we shouldn’t have to shrink ourselves just to exist in public spaces.

If you want to purchase your own bathroom sign to show your support for trans people in public spaces, I’m selling them on my website! Click this link to purchase!

Feel free to check out which states have bans on transgender people using public bathrooms and facilities here.