I'm sure there are some transgender students who are now having to plan around their need to use the bathroom: estimating how long they will be on campus for the day, figuring out if they can make it home between classes to use the bathroom, and wondering what they can eat at school, if anything at all. They're probably freaking out over the possibility of having to stay at school later than expected. Things are only more difficult for transgender students in high school, middle school, and elementary school. And what happens if, in spite of all your preparations, you still find yourself having to go to the bathroom?

Government workers have similar considerations. Joaquin Carcano, one of three plaintiffs in ACLU of North Carolina's lawsuit over the law, works at UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute for Global Health and Diseases as a project coordinator for people affected by HIV. When I interviewed him a few weeks ago, he told me he's had to watch what he eats and drinks before work, and that he now drinks less water during business hours. Because his building doesn't have any gender-neutral or single-stall restrooms, he has to make a 30-minute round trip to UNC Hospital nearby to use the bathroom.

"It's really distressing," Carcano told me. "It's a blow to your self-esteem." (Gender-neutral or single-stall bathrooms and locker rooms are accommodations in the new law, but to many in the transgender community, forced usage of such facilities is incredibly upsetting and alienating. All men should be able to use the men's bathroom. All women should be able to use the women's bathroom.)...

When I start classes in the fall at UNC-Chapel Hill as a graduate student, I'll be facing the problems transgender students and employees experience regularly. I'm worried about taking advantage of career opportunities like teaching assistantships. I've already applied for one beginning in a few months, but now I'm freaking out that, even if I do get the job, I may end up quitting. Will I be able to skirt the law without consequence and use the women's bathroom while working for a university, given my ability to pass well and that I no longer have a penis? I'm not sure. Will I be able to use the women's bathroom knowing that, if reported, I may lose my job? I don't know. While UNC-Chapel Hill's anti-discrimination laws (which cover gender identity and sexual orientation) as an employer are still intact, they don't cover bathroom usage.