Where should transgender students go to the loo?

It’s probably safe to assume that never in their contemplations about becoming a member of the Sarasota County School Board, did our board members think they would confront a policy question on where transgender students should be allowed to go to the bathroom.

Perhaps they should consult an expert: Caitlyn Jenner. At least, she could provide plenty of firsthand experiences.

This, of course, is no laughing matter. But here we are, once again, modern America has managed to leap over social walls and create another national furor over yet another aggrieved social group.

To be sure, there is no right answer to the transgender question. It appears this is another occasion to invoke those wise words of Thomas Sowell, well-known economist and commentator: “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.”

So put yourself in the shoes of the school board members. It’s a no-win proposition. What are your options?

1) Do nothing. Let the individual transgender students sort it out themselves, with the proviso that any student who causes disruption would be disciplined as would any disruptor.

2) Give all transgender students permission to use the facility that matches their preferred sex. A female who feels male would go to the boys’ bathroom with boys. A male who feels female would go to the girls’ bathroom with girls. If anyone provokes a confrontation or disruption, the initiator would be disciplined as he or she would in typical circumstances.

2) Require the transgender students to go to the facility that matches their physical characteristics, with the same provisos about disruptions.

3) Create separate facilities for the transgender students, and label them as such. This, of course, would trigger a financial consequence — the cost of constructing new facilities.

4) Create special time slots for transgender students to use the facility of their choice.

Obviously, almost all of these choices are a trade-off that would bring new consequences — good and bad to the transgender students, good and bad to the student body at large.

But as the school board members evaluate which trade-off to choose, they no doubt will keep at the top of their lists their paramount duty: to create the safest environment, to the extent possible,  for every student.

From that point on, you know the school board members will feel the urge to prescribe a one-size-fits-all policy, with pages and pages of regulations to be monitored and enforced. 

But rather than that, is this not also an instance to apply the Arthur Laffer “Rule of One?” That is, what works for one can work for many.

Take the transgender person in society in general. What does that person do in an airport? In a restaurant? He or she typically makes choices for his or her own safety and dignity. Indeed, how often do we read or hear about transgenders — other than Jenner — calling attention to themselves?

Or, take heterosexual or lesbian women in an airport bathroom. Say, in walks a Caitlyn Jenner. What do they do? Typically, they go about their business and move on. Or, say, a pervert male posing as a female walks in. What do they do? Their instinct and radar go up, and they act accordingly to protect themselves and avoid physical confrontations.

What’s more, how many transgender people are we talking about to begin with? The Williams Institute in 2011, based on various surveys and census data, did a study estimating 0.3% of the U.S. population falls into the transgender category. In Sarasota County’s 40,000-student body of all ages, that would be 120 students.

That is a number that sounds small enough that the school district could address on a case-by-case, school-by-school basis, allowing confidential discussions with each student.

Suffice it to say, evidence is hardly overwhelming that this question requires a detailed policy of rules and trade-offs that result in myriad unintended consequences. The Laffer Rule of One sounds like a plausible trade-off.