Dear Target customers who don’t agree with the bathroom policy:

Target has publicly stated that people should use the bathroom coinciding with their gender identity. If this policy makes you uncomfortable, particularly as it applies to your parenting and your children, I would like to remind you that maybe you are taking the word “restroom” too literally.

The restroom is not to actually rest. You go in, do your business and get out. Usually there are 3 or 4 unflushed potties sitting there with piss on the seat and toilet paper scraps on the floor. In fact, it’s so gross in most public restrooms, I keep Vapor Rub in my purse to put under my nose like the medical examiners who do autopsies do to protect myself from the stench. I’m a pro. To be clear, this applies to public bathrooms in general, not just Target’s. They do their best, but people are pigs.

Those air fresheners are not meant to be spa mood enhancers. The scraps of hand towels and toilet paper are not rose petals intended to freshen up the place. The air blowers to dry hands are not for ambiance. The restroom is to do your doody and leave.

I guess what I’m saying is, these are not comfortable places to begin with, so the fact that you are suddenly uncomfortable is odd to me.

Beyond that, I wonder: What do you think currently protects you and your children from people with the “wrong parts” going in there? Do you honestly think that transgender people haven’t used restrooms before now? Do you think they held it? I don’t check in the stalls beside me to see if I can play “gotcha” with fellow pee-ers, and I’m pretty sure you don’t, either.

You have likely used the bathroom at the same time as a transgender person without even realizing it. I’m sorry if this makes your head explode, but it’s true. Also, there aren’t invisible rule-keepers guarding the bathroom doors of public places that don’t have Target’s same policy. I can go in the men’s bathroom if I want. There isn’t an anatomy scan that prevents it. These sorts of things can and do happen all the time, regardless of policy.

If a criminal is doing something illegal, they will be arrested for it, regardless of gender or what a public establishment’s bathroom policy may be. No one is going to be like, “Oh, you want to identify as a woman? Then by all means, keep on keeping on with your illegal activity.”

Do you see how silly that is?

Inappropriate behavior is genderless. You think establishments that don’t have policies similar to Target’s are somehow safer? Take the women’s restroom, for example. Some women are predators, too. I don’t trust that just because someone is a woman, this means they wouldn’t harm my children or me. The assumption that just because someone’s gender identity differs from their birth sex means they are somehow a greater danger to others is ludicrous. This change will not affect how I parent or take care of my children when it comes to restroom safety in the least. I am vigilant regardless of gender, and you should be, too.

I’m happy with Target’s policy. If you want to bow out of your relationship with Target over this, that is perfect. One step closer to Target and me being exclusive.

Yours truly,

Mandelynn