Bathroom Blues
Babette Francis
There is something very unseemly about the obsession
that Barack Obama has with forcing school students and
indeed everyone (except his own family who are protected
round the clock by security services) into using unisex bathrooms.
As President of the US, the most powerful country
on this earth, surely he should have more important issues
on his mind? Like neutralizing ISIS for example?In this article I am targeting Target, the US department store chain which earlier this year had announced a policy to allow "transgender" individuals to use the toilet facilities of their choice., i.e. a biological male can use the women's bathrooms if he "identifies" as a female. When announcing its gender-neutral bathrooms, Target also made the appropriate sound bytes about "diversity", "inclusivity" and being LGBT friendly etc.
However there was a massive national backlash including 1.4 million people who signed up to an American Family Association boycott of Target stores. Target's revenues went down more than $1 billion from the same time last year.
Suddenly Target had a "moment of enlightenment" and announced in a $20 million public relations exercise that it would add single-stall toilets to all its locations by next March. While this is a step in the right direction, it doesn't solve the problem. While single-stall, locking toilets may give children and women an option, it's from a threat that Target needlessly created. Granting this option does not assure customers' safety. What if the store's only single-stall toilet - there is typically one per store - is out-of-order? What if it is occupied and a young woman is in a hurry? What if an unattended girl walks into the unisex restroom?
Target's new policy also misses the point of our objections. Some people have suggested that public accommodations install a single-stall toilet for transgender people who do not feel comfortable using the restroom of the appropriate biological sex. But Target's policy is the exact opposite - the single-stall restroom is for you. And if you're not progressive enough to undress in the presence of a man, as you may have to if you use the standard restroom facilities, too bad.
The threat to children, and the magnet that makes them a target to pedophiles, still remains inside every single Target store from coast to coast. None of that was necessary before Target very publicly appealed to liberal elites by calling attention to a policy that defies common sense. Previously, if a man entered a women's restroom and refused to leave, it was a cause for concern, he could be arrested. Now, it is simultaneously a "civil right" and a predator's opportunity.
However, the fact that Target has made some modification in its policy and its stores gives us hope. The fight for safety and common sense can be won if we organise and use our "buying" power. Target did not listen to complaints, not even when a 'transgender' man was caught filming female customers. Then they looked at their balance sheet and the missing $1 billion.
Individuals and families have buying power - or in this case "not buying from Target power". Use it - every time you shop, support family-friendly businesses. You may be just one person, but your vote, your choice, your purchase, your decisions can make a difference.
Meanwhile here in Australia the South Australian government, not to be outdone in gender insanity, is considering making toilets in government schools "gender-neutral". Parents in South Australia should call the government's bluff and insist that the government first make all toilets in Parliament House unisex - with no single-stall option.
They should also request that government MPs practice
publicly the breast-binding and penis-tucking dress codes recommended
in the Safe Schools Coalition program. Remember
when we used to think that the foot-binding practice
imposed on young girls and women in medieval China was
barbaric? Ah - those were the good old days.... 
