I agree, I feel that dialog is important, and I feel it's important to listen and to respect people's emotions.

I think we need to be very careful with fear, and other emotions though. I don't think we should ignore people's fears, but it's important to realize that fear can turn into hate without anyone realizing it.

For example, fear of rape, much like we are discussing here, is what drove most of America's lynchings. People were afraid of black people rapping women, and this was literally the plot the movie of "Birth of a Nation" which lead to the rise of KKK in the USA and the murder of countless innocent African Americans.

Many people in Europe were afraid of Jewish persons, and this lead to terrorism, murder, and genocide. I'm very sure many people who participated in this terrorism legitimately beleived it was justified to keep their families and communities safe. Their fear of self-preservation lead to them ignoring basic rights of others. The monster that may hurt you is not entitled to safety.

Fear of sharing bathrooms, along with rape, is something we have had in our country around African Americans as well, which lead to tons of discrimination around black people. This was a big part of the "separate but equal" that lead to disaster in our country. People were afraid of having black children go the same school as white people, and denied black children quality education because of this.

Sure, fear is indeed a healthy emotions and such concerns are important. Fear alerts us of safety issues. But we need to watch when a group of people's fears cross the line into infringing on other's rights. Often the argument is this is justified to keep others safe, that the minority isn't entitled to such rights because they are the minority, and fear starts to override ethical treatment. Again, the monster threatening us does is not entitled to safety. It turns into an us vs them.

There's not really a safe alternative given to trans women with the bathroom issue. A trans woman I know used the men's restroom, until a man literally attempted to rape her while she was in there. She's not safe in the men's room no more than any other woman would be. Having her use the men's room is just as dangerous as another woman using the men's room. So if she can't use the woman's room, she won't use the men's room because she doesn't wan tot get rapped, what should she do? There's not an alternative for her, and her rights are infringed upon. Or are we saying she should keep using the men's room it's okay if she's rapped because she is trans? It's okay to be afraid or uncomfortable, but it's not okay to take someone's rights away, including the right to pee.

It's one thing to be uncomfortable with someone, and talk about it, and even have dialogue. It's not okay to take away someone's rights because of your fears.