Trans people are less safe when forced to use the wrong restroom, study finds

A recent study by the Williams Institute reveals that transgender individuals are more prone to harassment when using restrooms corresponding to their sex assigned at birth, rather than those that align with their gender identity.

According to ‘LGBTQ Nation’, the study surveyed trans men and women over the past 12 months, asking if they had faced verbal harassment or were denied restroom access based on their gender and sex assigned at birth. Findings showed that approximately 10% of trans men experienced denial of access or verbal harassment in women’s restrooms. For trans women, 7% were denied access, and nearly 9% experienced verbal harassment in men’s restrooms.

Regarding restrooms matching their gender identity, about 5% of trans men were refused entry and roughly 7% faced verbal harassment in men's restrooms. Meanwhile, only 5% of trans women were denied access to women’s restrooms, and over 7% encountered verbal harassment there.

This segment of the study used data from the 2022 U.S.A. Transgender Survey, which included 92,329 participants.

Despite the risks posed by bathroom bans highlighted in this study, President Donald Trump argues that prohibiting trans individuals from using restrooms aligning with their gender identity would ensure women’s safety. One of Trump’s initial acts as president was an executive order denying the existence of trans people and restricting them from gender-specific spaces, claiming it protected women. Trump has been held liable for sexual abuse.

In another segment of the study, researchers looked at data from Massachusetts and states with nondiscrimination laws to evaluate the effects on public safety and privacy in restrooms. This analysis, based on criminal incident reports related to assault, sex crimes, and voyeurism, found no significant changes in privacy and safety post-enactment of these laws, with such incidents remaining rare.

The Williams Institute conducted a similar study in 2018, which yielded comparable findings when comparing states with and without gender discrimination laws.

It’s easy to reduce trans people to mere statistics, yet we must remember the notable instances of assault faced by trans and nonbinary individuals in restrooms matching their sex assigned at birth. A prominent example is the tragic death of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary Indigenous teenager from Oklahoma, who was fatally assaulted by a group of girls in their high school restroom.

The Williams Institute concludes that the perception of trans people threatening women’s safety in restrooms is baseless, pointing to consistent reports of negative experiences in public facilities, including physical assault, by trans individuals.