YDR editorial board

Census stats suggest there are about 21 transgender people in York County...

Debate over 'bathroom bills' has ignited opposition to Pa. legislation...

The Fairness Act would prohibit discrimination against the LGBT community...

In York County, how likely are you to walk into a public restroom and encounter a transgender person?

Good question.

Let’s look at some U.S. Census numbers.

Using 2010 data of changes to individuals’ first names and sex-coding in files from the Social Security Administration, the Census Bureau estimates that there are a maximum of 4.7 transgender individuals per 100,000 people in Pennsylvania (and a minimum of 3.4 per 100,000).

Let’s go with the max.

The Census Bureau estimated there were 442,867 people in York County in 2015.

So, that’s about 21 transgender people living here.

It seems like a pretty low chance of an awkward bathroom encounter. The odds are akin to your likelihood of being struck by lightning.

Let’s imagine the bureau’s estimate is way off and the actual number is double or even triple – 42 or 63 transgender people in York County.

Still a minuscule chance of an encounter.

So why are people freaking out about bathroom bills? We have an amazing propensity in this nation to focus on relatively minor issues when there are much more pressing things to worry about.

The imaginary predator in America's transgender bathroom war

Taxes, terrorism, ISIS, Zika, heroin, climate change… And people are fretting over which bathrooms transgender individuals can use?

Priorities, people!

Also, can we get control of our irrational fears?

We’re seeing social media comments and letters to the editor worrying that allowing transgender people to use the bathrooms of their choice will lead to predation of innocent women and children.

“OMG! Men pretending to be transgender women might enter the ladies’ room and commit sexual assault!”

Lions and tigers and bears!

Yes, unfortunately these things could happen. In fact, these things can happen now – bathroom bills or federal Title IX guidance notwithstanding. They’re called crimes – sexual assault, voyeurism, etc. They can and will be prosecuted, regardless of the gender or the preferred attire of the perpetrator.

Granted, some transgender people are criminals. But to presume that all of them are predators is untrue, unfair and un-American.

And honestly, which is more disruptive or awkward? A genetic male dressed as a woman standing at a urinal in a Target mens’ room, or that same person quietly doing her business in the relative privacy of the ladies’ room stall?

Yes, granting transgender people basic civil rights to public accommodations will take some getting used to for many people.

It wasn’t so long ago that gay people hid and lived in fear. Now they live openly. They get married! They raise children!

The republic has not crumbled. It has thrived – just as it thrived after emancipation and suffrage.

Stand up against transgender bathroom rules (letters)

Actually, gay people are still denied some basic civil rights in Pennsylvania. “Adam and Steve” could get married on Saturday and be fired from their jobs and evicted from their apartment on Monday simply for being gay.

That’s because our state’s Human Relations Act, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age or national origin, still allows discrimination based on sexual preference and gender identity.

A bill in the Legislature called The Fairness Act would add protections against discrimination based on “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.” After gay marriage was approved in Pennsylvania, many called for passage of this act, saying it was time to take the next step to end discrimination. But the bill has languished.

Now national debate over “bathroom bills” has ignited opposition to The Fairness Act. The Pennsylvania Pastors Network recently sent out a hyperventilating news release “Alerting Residents About Two Dangerous Bathroom Bills Proposed in Keystone State.”

Lions and tigers and bears!

Well, The Fairness Act would give transgender people equal rights to public restrooms, but the bill is about a lot more than that. It’s about basic fairness to our fellow human beings.

Come on, people. We’re bigger than this.

While there’s a very small chance that you’ll encounter a transgender person in a York County restroom, these basic civil rights are a very big deal for transgender people.