Recently, there has been a lot of controversy over a new vague law that will be implemented in California starting on Jan. 1, 2014. The law allows
all transgender students to choose which programs, activities and facilities they use based on what their gender identity is.

Although this law may seem like a breakthrough for some, I just see a huge disaster waiting to happen due to the risk of bullying and sexual harassment.
But even so, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the School Success and Opportunity Act into law on Aug. 12.

I can understand the part of this law stating that transgender students can choose which programs and activities they participate in based on their
gender identity. However, it is not right to allow a transgender female to change with girls or use the same bathroom or shower–the same applies to those
who are transgender male. For all we know, this huge breakthrough could lead to an increased amount of bullying and harassment in schools than ever before.

Supporters may disagree with this theory, asserting that there have been schools in the state who have experimented with this ideology for years before and
have had no incidents occur. According to a California student, this law will open doors for transgender
individuals both psychologically and extracurricularly.

I do not believe these claims though. Harassment and bullying is not an unknown phenomenon with statistics showing that one in seven students are
either a bully or have been bullied. This statistic may not even cover all students being that in most cases
the victim is too scared to come forward.

In my mind, unless a person has gotten sex reassignment surgery, they do not belong where those of the biologically opposite sex are. The whole point
of having male and female segregated facilities is so we have somewhere to go where we can do our own things in private. What facility we use should not be
based on our gender identity, but on our biological anatomy instead. That’s the only way that a clear line can be drawn without non-transgender individuals
abusing the law.

I understand that transgender individuals try their best to live as the other gender, but allowing them to choose which facility they use will only harm them
in the end.