It’s possible that Laura Brigada and the Republican legislators supporting the transgender bathroom bill (HB 148) will sleep better if it’s signed into law, but I doubt it. Consider this: For every transgender girl or woman who is forbidden from using a women’s restroom, there will be a transgender boy or man who will be required to use it. A transgender male, likely on testosterone, and possibly with both facial hair and “bottom surgery,” will be required to use the ladies’ room. Every time this topic comes up, I like to point people to “Becoming Nicole,” a wonderful book by Amy Ellis Nutt about an identical twin who determined at an early age she was, unlike her brother, a girl, and how her family worked through those issues, both legally and emotionally. Once you read about how in utero development works, you will be hard pressed to come to the conclusion that coming out as transgender is some teenage adolescent’s plan to meet girls. There are so many problems that require our attention: gun violence, climate change, income inequality. You must lead a very fortunate life to think that who uses which bathroom is the most important issue facing our country.

Patrice Rasche

Canterbury