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The bill is stirring fierce opposition from critics who say it would lead to a breakdown in privacy in restrooms, locker rooms and other single-gender facilities.
Kris Mineau, said the bill would open up all gyms, showers, restrooms and shelters to anyone of any gender because there's no clear way to determine if an individual is transgender.
I think you should use that bathroom that has the equipment for your parts. And if you need a tampon that would be the ladies room. If you pee standing up it's the mens room. A toilet is a toilet. There is nothing intrisinclically "feminine" or "masculine" about bathroom facilities so it really doesn't matter WHAT you feel like inside. I have used the mens room in a pinch on more than one occasion and really don't see why this is even an issue.
a while back, I was working at a retail store in a mall and I went to one of the main bathrooms. there was some big commotion going on there and mall security had to be called. apparently, a transgendered man (who looked pretty much like a woman and was hearing a skirt) had gone to the women's restroom and some lady w/ kids "noticed" (I have no clue how she noticed this unless she was peering into the stall and noticed him/her peeing standing up!) him/her standing and realized she was a he and freaked out. apparently, she was concerned about her kids being exposed to the sight of a man part of something, who knows.
I don't remember how that ended, since I moved on to the next restroom, but a situation like that does bring up an interesting point. a guy dressed up as a woman who truly feels he is a woman isn't likely going to feel comfortable using the men's room, even if he/she has the equipment required. I don't think many guys would care if a transgendered woman came into the men's room (though that a big assumption on my part), but I do believe many women would be more freaked out if a guy came into the women's room. I guess a lot of transgendered folks are stuck using private family restrooms until this whole thing can be figured out
oh, and the thing in the article about the bill making it easier for sexual predators to prey on women is a bit silly. sexual predators have no problems going into a men's room and assaulting a young boy yet I still see mothers letting their young sons go in alone. and really, there's not much stopping a predator from going into a women's restroom now. and there are plenty of times when a public restroom is busy enough to deter incidents like assaults. if parents are so concerned, they can try to track down a family restroom (or petition for the installation of them if a public place doesn't have one)
It used to be illegal to conceal one's identity in public, but evidently that's not the case anymore. If a woman can pass as a man, or a man as a woman, who really cares? People have been cross-dressing for centuries. There are much more consequential things to be concerned about.
I think you should use that bathroom that has the equipment for your parts. And if you need a tampon that would be the ladies room. If you pee standing up it's the mens room. A toilet is a toilet. There is nothing intrisinclically "feminine" or "masculine" about bathroom facilities so it really doesn't matter WHAT you feel like inside. I have used the mens room in a pinch on more than one occasion and really don't see why this is even an issue.
Well said. I think transgendered individuals should be allowed to use the facility that matches their new gender but only after the appropriate surgery. I realize that this can be a problem for all the transgendered folks who either do not want surgery, cannot afford surgery or simply have not had surgery yet. However, I think its necessary to draw the line somewhere.
I was watching 'Cops' once and a policeman was arresting a M to F transsexual. She was going to jail. The policeman had one question for her, "Do you have a penis". What he did with her was going to depend on the answer to that question.
As I said, I can see the problems. I just think we need to draw the line somewhere.
Disabled toilets aren't male or female specific are they?
We've had those for a while and I've seen no statistics that prove an increase in sexual assault or sexual predators because of it.
If you have to go to the bathroom in a public place no matter who you are, I'd suggest you go to the public toilet you are most comfortable being in.
We've even got non gender specific public toilets here. I was in one the other day. I think I was at bigger risk from germs because of the filth of the place than I'd ever be from a sexual predator OR some poor sod going through gender reassignment.
The use of the "correct" facility is an issue of respect for the dignity of other people. A lot of people feel a certain modesty about the things they do in the bathroom, and are more comfortable doing it in view of members of their own sex. They are entitled to this expectation when using a public convenience.
If a man wishes to comport himself as a woman, he will not be offending anybody if he goes into the ladies room and gives the impression to the other users that they are in the company of another lady. However, if he goes into the men's room, seemingly as a woman, he may offend the modesty of other users in the men's room.
To my mind, this is really the only issue of concern in this debate. The famous Roseanne Halloween episode notwithstanding. (Roseanne, costumed as a lumberjack, in a beard and plaid shirt, uses the mens room. "Oh, I get it---you guys don't talk to each other in here, do you?")
I think the problem with allowing this is that some guy who wants to get a peek can put on a dress and go into the womens room to get that peek, and vice versa for women going into the mens room. We shouldn't have to worry about being checked out when we are trying to take a crap!
I'm also not interested in explaining to my kids why the woman wearing the dress has a penis.
I also understand, that especially for men crossdressers, that there is the fear of being attacked by homophobes.
I think the best solution is to have a family room so that the person can go in there, or heck, have a cross dressers room.
What are anthropologists in the distant future going to think about Americans when they start sifting through the records from 2009?
Apparently, we can't decide how to define marriage, men or women. Pretty silly people.
I think they will have much more spectacular things to guffaw about.
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