Although it is not frequently acknowledged, bathrooms have been contested civil rights sites for several decades now. The civil rights movement during the 1950s fought to end the prevailing practice in some parts of the country of prohibiting African Americans from using so-called "white" bathrooms. In the 1970s, the women's movement made bathrooms a political and legal issue when employers were slow to accommodate the bathroom needs of the growing number of women who were joining the workforce. And in the 1980s, the disability rights movement pushed to require the construction of buildings in ways that allowed individuals who use wheelchairs to enter and use bathrooms.
During each one of these civil rights struggles, there were conservative critics who dismissed bathroom-related advocacy by minority groups as unnecessary and even silly. A similar response is taking place today as the LGBT rights movement pushes to prohibit employment discrimination against transsexuals.
One conservative group has called the proposed federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)--which would prohibit employers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity--as the "Transgender Bathrooms for Business Bill." Similarly, Charles Baker, the Republican candidate for governor in Massachusetts, has dubbed a proposed state law that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity as "the bathroom bill" and vowed to veto it if he is elected.
Behind all of this mocking, there is a serious issue, namely, that some employers believe it is appropriate to fire transsexual employees because of which bathrooms those employees choose to use. For example, in a recent case from Georgia, an employer fired a male-to-female transsexual employee on the ground that her use of female bathrooms might upset some of the other bathroom users and potentially expose the employer to legal liability.
To my knowledge, there has not been a single reported case of harassment by a transsexual employee of other employees in a workplace bathroom. The reports that we do have, many of them coming from lawsuits, is of the precise opposite, that is, of transsexual employees who have been harassed by employers and co-employees because of which bathrooms they decide to use.
Those who object to sharing bathrooms with transsexuals should pause to think what it must feel like to be quizzed by an employer about the precise characteristics of one's body only to be potentially forced to use bathrooms that are designated for the other sex. It seems to me completely understandable for someone who considers herself to be a woman, for example, to choose to use workplace bathrooms that are designated as "female." And when an employer forces a male-to-female transsexual employee to use a male bathroom, that should be deemed illegal discrimination, in the same way that it is now settled law that an employer illegally discriminates when it designates bathroom use according to race, or does not provide equal bathroom facilities for women, or does not make bathrooms accessible to employees with disabilities.
One of the effects of civil rights claims is that they can lead us to question long established practices that, whether intentionally or not, have excluded certain groups from full participation as equal members of society. In the long run, it may be that the political and legal activism on behalf of transsexual employees will make society realize that the division of bathrooms into two categories (one male and the other female) is mandated by neither God nor nature. Indeed, it is unlikely that the world as we know it will come to an end if more public bathrooms are designated as "unisex" so that they can be used by anyone.
But, in the meantime, employers should not be allowed to force employees to use bathrooms that are designated male when the employee does not consider herself to be male (and the same applies to the forced use of female bathrooms by female-to-male transsexuals). At the end of the day, this is not an issue about just bathrooms; it is also a question of equality, decency, and the treating of transsexuals with the respect that they deserve.
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If transexual
If we are going to treat human beings in this manner, we should at least be honest about the fact that this is simply about a large group of heterosexu
They are trying to shame, embarrass, dehumanize and degrade law-abidin
I think we've got this all backwards.
The difference is that gay citizens do not hold the power to oppress transexual
Straight people not only hold that power, they immorally exercise it.
Gay people are not the same as trans (though there is intersecti
I have been an advocate for the trans community for over 20 years. I know who they are, I know what they face, I stand up for them every time I can, because as a gay citizen, I know the pain of being treated as less than human. I have fought for transexual inclusion in employment and housing discrimina
My point was not that gay people can't be jerks. ALL people can be jerks. Even you, I 'd wager. Even me, I'm sure.
My point was that those that hold the power to mistreat us in the manner that they do are tying to shame, embarrass, dehumanize and degrade law-abidin
I am a STRONG ally. A VOCAL ally. A TRUE ally. And I always will be.
Please have a look.
ttp://unco
Natacha
Even if they WERE able to 'hide it' your suggestion that they consider doing so is offensive at best and hugely degrading to those human beings at worst.
Suggesting that someone should hide who they are so as not to upset the fragile, delicate flowers known as heterosexu
I also never said they don't have a right to be who they are. My point was it cannot be compared to women not havnig restrooms at works in what was a mostly male dominated workforce, and blacks who were denied the use of restrooms because of the color of their skin. This is not the same. I specifical
Well here is where the problem begins. You're on the outside of an issue that you admit you don't fully understand
I don't claim to speak for all of us though, and there may be some who simply feel that it should be their right to exist on this planet in the body of a different gender. If you believe that they should have that right, then don't you also have accept the fact that once said choice is made they need a place to pee, and it is only logical and sane that they should be doing it in a facility which conforms to their chosen gender? The latter case may run afoul of your point, but that doesn't disprove the notion that this is a civil rights issue in all cases.
While many women would be okay with a MTF person using a public women's room, many others would not be. And while that's bigotry in some cases, I don't think it's fair to ask women who are justifiabl
What we are talking about is people who want to follow the law.
This particular issue is about more than just discomfort for the MTF, by using a mens room their LIFE can be in danger. Harassment would be common but actual physical violence also has happened towards them.
Men feel just as much discomfort from an MTF as women...pr
So... do you feel that Whites have a right not to be made uncomforta
And you're demanding that "women who are justifiabl
Yes, I'm being harsh with you. Maybe even unfair. But your privilege is showing, and it's ugly.
I am not uncomforta
If a woman were alone in a women's room, and someone who looks like me came in, her nervousnes
http://gay
“A 46,XY mother who developed as a normal woman underwent spontaneou
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You're supposed to find the words 'menarch' 'menstruat
(I kyped the above medical reference from one of Zoe Brain's posts...)
So sorry for the challenges you have to go through that the rest of us don't give a seond thought to. Hang in there, I guess. Hopefully society will catch up to you in its tolerance. For what its worth, you can tell by tone/conte
The fact that an issue this absurd is being held up as the elephant in the room to prevent Trans Americans from being able to qualify for gender congruent ID really speaks volumes. The simple fact is that they don't want to legitimize our gender identity by allowing us to have access to proper ID. The bathroom argument is nothing more than a wedge issue, and it is painfully transparen
Let's say for the argument that because I haven't had my bottom surgery yet I need to use the "males" restroom according to the idea that some feels THAT'S proper. It all sounds good in theory but in reality if I were to walk into a males restroom it would be very confusing to the guys there. I do not look male and in fact when I was still living as male I was being addressed as a female in public. In one instance I used a male washroom still presenting male and had a 10 year old leave to relook at the sign to make sure he was in the proper washroom.
My daily life consists of not travelling far from home out of fear that I am not or cannot use a restroom in public. In a nutshell it sucks. I feel like I don't have the same rights as joe public simply because I'm waiting for my surgical date.
I call bullsh*t - this is a manufactur
If you dress as a woman this is a ridiculous statement. I challenge anyone to demonstrat
Perhaps you have never had someone ask you at the top of their lungs "What were you doing in there?" because you came out of a restroom they didn't think you belonged in. I can assure you it is not pleasant to face that sort of harassment