Sexual Relationships 
Sexual Health 
My goal for this is to see whether this policy is logical or not regardless of your stance on... transgenderism? I have no idea what term to use here. I apologize. I will of course add my opinions in as well but that's not a part of deciding wether it's good or not. Recently Target made a new policy that pretty much makes all bathrooms gender neutral. They say that you can go into the bathroom of the gender you identify as. This was made to help transgender people.
First, is gender and sex the same? When someone is transgender or agrees with the idea, they are agreeing that gender and sex (anatomy) are completely separate. Some get extensive surgeries to change their sex, and some just change their gender. So I will be going by the assumption that they are separate. For ease I will at times use gender to refer to sex. Context should be enough for you to differentiate. If not ask and I will clarify.
Second, what is the goal of gender separation in bathrooms? Well, in general you don't want anyone to see certain parts regardless of their gender. But because it might be difficult to separate to an acceptable degree on an individual level the next best thing is by gender. We also separate the bathrooms to presumably stop sexual harassment. Contrary to popular belief this is not limited to female victims. A recent study says 90,000+ households were interviews and they found that 38% of incidents of rape and serial harrasment were male victims. I am assuming this number is a little low because of the aforementioned stigma.
The study isn't a perfect correlation but it serves it's purpose. Anyways, because most people are heterosexual they would be more likely to commit some kind of sexual harasment against the other gender and more likely to avoid their gender. So they are separated. This doesn't fix everything but it the logic is sound. So it seems the prevention of sexual harasment of various forms is the reason it's separated.
How do these two things mix to form our conclusion? Because we are separating gender and sex we can see that gender has no role in bathroom gender segregation. It's purely anatomy. So only identifying as a gender is not enough to go into the other bathroom. If one looks a lot like the gender being transitioned to and maybe getting surgery then it seems logical to go in the previously incorrect bathroom. We can partially further this argument with young children. It is OK if they go into the wrong bathroom for protection, help, and they see the difference in genders but they don't understand or care, and nobody else does either for the just mentioned reasons.
If gender and sex were inseparable then the conclusion does not change. It only solidifies it.
And just like that through pure logic we find that it is not enough to only identify as a gender to use a certain bathroom and so Target's policy should be amended.
Now for some other things I want to address. Some people are saying this is hurting women and children. Wow, that really hurts. It implies that men are the ones that are doing all of the attacking and not getting attacked. Especially the attacking part. I am not a heathen that goes around attacking women and my word, children. As I mentioned it hurts when people say stuff like that. Some of you might say that this isn't the message and maybe it is maybe it isn't but nonetheless that implication is hard to ignore. And did I mention it hurts?
I understand that transgender people want to transition in peace and fit in the best they can and receive acceptance. So please do not say I am making light of their situation. I am trying to create an understanding between everyone. To those of you who are transgender I wish you the best of luck overcoming any social issues you encounter because of your switch. 👍
I am hoping that nobody has a problem with these thoughts as I think they are quite logical but I can't explain everything perfectly and I certainly missed something, topped with the fact that people are emotional and think differently, I expect some backlash, misunderstandings and some blocks. Please do not assume I am thinking something, if you need clarification of my thoughts just ask and I will respond and hopefully demonstrate I mean no ill will to anyone.
Please check to see if I have any updates before posting anything.
What Girls & Guys Said
11 14Well, this opens up the doorway for rapists.
"Oh, I'm transgender" *5 minutes later it is revealed they were lying and spying on the opposite gender.
I'm down with Target, Sorry, but I ain't getting raped
How exactly does an act of sexual deviancy attribute to you being raped? I get that the term used is "eye fucking" but you're taking that a little too literally aren't you? No body is going to rape anybody in a public washroom. No one is that stupid.
@ThatJarHead actually, I recently read a true story about a girl who was in a bathroom for whatever gender you "feel" you are. She was almost raped
I feel like a bathroom might slightly increases chances because it is slightly more private. But anyone who values their freedom probably wouldn't rape someone in the bathroom because it's still a public place in a busy store. This also changes depending on how popular the store is. Anyways I think there is a misconception that slightly removing certain clothes increases chances of getting raped. I am not trying to explain this away. Rape is an issue and if it can be prevented it should be. Also peoples discomfort is another great reason to repeal or amend the policy if the discomfort can not be show to be unrealistic.
If someone wants to rape you, do you honestly think the little sign on the door is gonna stop them?
@FallOutBoy2001 it may not stop them, but its more of a warning then "come on in!"
They're not going to adhere to any warnings
@FallOutBoy2001 would there be more or less murders if it was legal to shoot anyone for ANY reason?
How the fuck does that relate. It's like saying, would there be more or less rapes if rape was legal. that's not it. A rapist isn't going to adhere to any warnings, he'll just walk in and lay in wait, or wait for you somewhere else. Sorry if it makes you feel better to think that a rapist will obey a sign on a door, but no, they won't.
@FallOutBoy2001 no. I said if shooting someone was legal, not murder. Its the exact same with this. They are saying its ok to shoot the gun, but not kill anyone
... Nope still not getting it
@FallOutBoy2001 While it's true that a sign won't stop anyone, someone might tell the proper people that they someone go into the restroom of the wrong gender. When it doesn't matter which one, people won't say anything. Chances for sexual harassment barely increase with the policy. It's a logical fallacy.
Ok so I'm not the only one whose thinking that
Seriously? I don't agree with this at all. I don't want to be taking my children into the restroom and see a trans in there. So a man can just throw on a wig, put on some make up, and head over into the females restroom?
He can just walk in without any kind of disguise.
I agree. Anyone can say they are transgender and just stroll on into a bathroom. This opens the way for possible sexual assault (making it far easier, let's be honest here) and for perverts who want to spy on the opposite sex. Furthermore, I do NOT, as a woman, want someone who is anatomically male in the restroom I am using. I would feel so uncomfortable, and again I agree with you- I wouldn't even THINK of letting my children use the bathroom with a transgender individual. It's not okay, and the thought is unsettling.
@LittleFinch I wonder if it does increase the chances of sexual harasment because even without the policy there isn't much stopping anyone from walking into a public restroom anyways. However if someone saw a person entering the wrong restroom then they could stop that person. If there was that policy they probably wouldn't be stopped. It's seems like an increase but only marginally. Who knows for sure though?
Wait what? So a perfectly well man that shows no signs of transgender issues can walk into the females restroom? Is this only at Target, or other locations as well?
As far as I know it's only target, and let's hope it stays that way, I was just speaking hypothetically.
Dear Lord, who in their right state of mind would agree with this..
I have no problem if someone trans entered the womans bathroom to pee, its when a creepy man walks in that is the issue and nothing will stop predators ever. I can't imagine if I were trans and having to use the restroom of the gender I was born and not identify with! Im sure they get bullied and harrassed using said bathroom and couldnt imagine what a trans woman would go through using a mens room. I have used mens room for various reasons, womens room was being cleaned or out of order and nothing happened to me. I think some people are too paranoid. I am also someone who has been sexually assaulted and Im cautious of where I am and who is around all the time but its no excuse to be rude and ignorant towards a trans man or woman. Thank you for your post.
You should always be cautious about who's around and what your situation is. You run in with someone who decided to be less than human shouldn't be your reason for that. I'm not trying to belittle what happened to you. Just correcting your grammatical error so that people who are less polite don't cause you trouble.