Transgender bathrooms in Texas

The bathroom bill has developed a lot of contention in the state of Texas. It is a bill passed and restricts transgender children to bathrooms of their biological sex. This is a bill similar to one passed in North Carolina a year before. The bill is considered as an amendment of the school hazard preparedness bill. Many people in the state find the two issues unrelated. The bill will restrict transgender children to exclusive bathrooms that are for single occupancy and will restrict them form bathrooms of their sex transition. Opponents of the bill have been very vocal and call it discriminatory. They compare the bill to the Jim Crow laws of segregation where seclusion that separate the children. The article explores the main issue of the situation about the ability of the bill to cause separation within schools that would result in more discrimination of transgender children. The article claims the use of bathroom of the current sex of transgender children is very important for the transition process. This essay will, therefore, try and explore the various rhetorical strategies used by the article in addressing its issues. Rhetorical strategies are simply strategies of persuasion used within arguments to help support a particular claim. It is also used to make responses to opposing arguments. The main claim or argument of the article is that the passing of the transgender bathrooms in Texas will cause separation among the children and this will cause some aspects of segregation and ultimately lead to discrimination of transgender children. The opposing argument is that the bill is effective in protecting students and enhancing equality among all of the in schools.

The first rhetoric strategy used by the article is the appeal to logos. This is a persuasive way of arguing that applies the use of reason in the form of use of facts backed by a sufficient amount of evidence to bring out the aspect of reason as well as logic into the argument. The article has used a generalization of information relating to the bill. The article explores how the state of Texas will be the first one and the only state to restrict transgender children from accessing bathrooms they are comfortable with. The article then follows with a statement of comparison with a situation that occurred in North Carolina. The situation at North Carolina was met with a lot of opposition and costs the state a lot of money. The article appeals to reason or logos in the sense that the restriction of the use of bathrooms in school would result in more discrimination. The article also uses comparisons to demonstrate its argument. The first comparison is between the two states of Texas and that of North Carolina. The article uses the situation at North Carolina to show the passing of such a bill will lead to a lot of backlashes. The other comparisons sued is between the passing of the transgender bathroom bill in Texas and the Jim Crow Laws of segregation used to separate people of color and whites. The article shows the state separate but equal is applied by the bill by establishing single occupancy bathrooms that will be separated from the rest of the bathrooms and ought to be used by those transgender children that may feel uncomfortable using their respective bathrooms.

The other rhetoric strategy is the use of pathos. Pathos is the appeal to emotions. The use of factors capable of influencing the emotions of readers can be used to strengthen an argument. The same happens in the article where the writer of the article elicits feelings of compassion as a result of the consequences of the bill on transgender children. The fact that the bill is affecting children paces it a very emotional sensible standpoint for readers. The article uses an example of a little girl called Libby. She is a transgender and her mother Rachel fears for her. This is because the state and lawmakers she expects to protect her interest have in a way turned against her and are now putting her and her friends in great danger. Acceding to Rachel, the restriction of the use of bathrooms would have a great impact of Libby who had transitioned just before joining the elementary school. She had recognized herself as a girl and had been using the girl’s bathroom. However, now she will be forced to use the boy’s bathroom which is her biological sex or be forced to use a separate bathroom. The use of Libby’s story is a great example of an emotional appeal. It is a sensitive example of a girl who will be directly affected by the passing of the bill. The story paints a legitimate picture of the way the bill will affect school children who are transgender. The article has specifically used this strategy to appeal to the emotions of the audience and to shed some light on the real truth associated with the passing of the bill.