Britt Kennerly

FLORIDA TODAY

Terrorism, education and jobs are the No. 1 concerns for many Americans.

So, what are we talking about today?

Bathrooms. And whether transgender people who want to relieve themselves in public restrooms where they're comfortable will do so primarily to attack you and/or your children there.

First, in February, the Palm Bay City Council turned down a human rights ordinance to protect gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people from all sorts of business discrimination that is legal in Florida.

That same month, the Brevard Public Schools board tabled a non-discrimination and equal employment policy for LGBT people in Brevard Public Schools. Tuesday, the topic surfaced again at BPS, at a workshop revisiting the policy discussion. A 3-2 majority of school board members agreed a revised non-discrimination policy should come up for hearings and a vote.

More than 700,000 boycott Target over transgender bathroom policy

Somehow, it's an even bigger issue nationally.

In North Carolina, a new law requires transgender individuals to use public restrooms associated with the sex designated on their birth certificates. How that will be policed and enforced is anyone's guess.

When Target announced recently that transgender employees and customers may use bathrooms and dressing rooms aligning with their gender identity, you'd have thought they'd allowed al-Qaida to set up shop by the diaper-changing station.

Social media blew up with memes and petitions. A reported 700,000-plus people have signed an American Family Association petition, threatening to boycott Target. Anita Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, announced on Twitter that her Glock will be her bodyguard in Target's bathroom.

Boycott? OK. I still don't eat at Chick-fil-A because of their politics I find distasteful.

Kennerly: New Florida abortion laws hassle women

But boycotts based on bogeyman tales of bathroom predators are devious and dangerous. I'm much more concerned about being in a stall next to a Glock-toter who might find me masculine-looking. Or running out of TP with no one around to toss me a roll.

Nationwide, and in Florida, reports from cities and counties that passed nondiscrimination policies

Even Donald Trump has addressed the transgender bathroom policy stink.

"People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate," the GOP presidential candidate told the "Today" show.

Brevard native Gina Duncan, a transgender woman and transgender inclusion director for Equality Florida, was encouraged by this week's school board workshop. She was moved by Superintendent Desmond Blackburn's tear-inducing, "amazing" speech, which she thinks solidified support.

They make $8.05 an hour in Florida, and they matter

Among her observations:

Overall, Florida is the most progressive state in the South — "the best of the worst," says Duncan. "The South is farthest behind, but Florida is doing better than the rest of the South. We have 36 human rights ordinances that protect almost 60 percent of our population against discoloration and we're working with school boards all over the state to adopt inclusive policies."

Studies on a national and state level show no increases in public safety issues where such ordinances and policies have been put in place. There is not one instance, Duncan said, of a transgender person committing a crime in a bathroom that aligns with their gender ID.

If anyone's concerned about harassment or bullying, it's certainly transgender people, who simply want to use the restroom and go about their business.

Why the persistent toilet talk?

Duncan's take is, the transgender community "for the longest time, was always in the shadows," she said. "We were the 'silent T.' Then, finally, the community felt with the progress of LGBT rights in general, and the passage of same-sex marriage, it was time to step out of the shadows and be part of the LGBT movement."

That, in turn, brought certain fears and issues into the spotlight, and some bad policy-making, she said.

Kennerly: No hiding a nude selfie

"There's a judgment call ... how female-looking do you have to be to use a women's restroom?" she asked. "We all have friends, who through genetics, perhaps present as masculine in presentation and mannerisms. Lesbians who present as masculine will be challenged ... what it's doing is putting all women at risk."

It's far past time for inclusive non-discrimination policies that protect all people — and to end unwarranted harassment of transgender individuals regarding their bathroom usage.

Let's flush this non-issue, and wave goodbye as it swirls down the drain.

Contact Britt Kennerly at 321-242-3692 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @bybrittkennerly.

We asked readers: Have you ever been bothered by anyone in a public restroom?

Denise Cisar: No. I have not even given it any thought until all this baloney about "things that could possibly happen" was brought up.

Mary Greene: No, I never have. Plus, if you are concerned for your children 1) go with them and 2) use the family restrooms available at so many stores, especially Target. I am much more concerned with the grown men who hang out near elementary schools, playgrounds, and school bus stops. Most parents don't think twice about that, do they?

Ken Previti: I was once bothered by a lack of toilet paper. That is a real issue and a real problem. Can Republican fundamentalist right-wing Christians and their elected officials do something about that very real tissue? I mean, issue. ISSUE.

Gina Wilson Beckles: Like it or not, some of you have been sharing restrooms with transgender people for years and you don't even know it!

Amy Tidd: No.

Laura Sakal Fausone: I used to work with kids who had been sexually assaulted. Most by their own fathers, step-fathers, or Mom's boyfriend. Not a homosexual or transsexual in the bunch molested these kids. Heterosexual men and idiotic women packing Glocks scare me more. I go to the grocery store and look around to see who's possibly carrying a gun. I abhor anything said by anyone from Liberty Counsel.

Terry Sanders: No, not once. Never felt threatened or uncomfortable. But I can imagine feeling uncomfortable if someone who looked exactly like a man was forced to use the ladies room, like in North Carolina.

Vicki Ulrich Impoco: Anti-transgender initiatives like the "bathroom issue" perpetuate the myth that protecting transgender people’s access to restrooms endangers public safety and are manufactured purely for political purposes

Jennifer Ann Mueller: My favorite argument: "the children." My counterpoint, get off your lazy butt and go with your child. I'm not nervous about it, either. I also don't see myself trying to figure out who's got what next stall over. Chill out, folks.

Margaret Bihr: I am more concerned about perverts who plant spy cams in bathrooms than any transgender person using the stall next to me. Even more real and pressing are the people who don't flush, go all over the seat or floor, or don't wash their hands. Disgusting!

Pat Suit: I think the whole thing is ludicrous. Don't they have anything more relevant to discuss? Sad state of affairs.

Heidi Frankson: Evangelical bullies.

Tom Welter: I don't understand why people would care who is using the bathroom with them. There must be this incredible phase of paranoia that these people are experiencing; this is a mental health issue, not a sexual one.