The other day, a friend of mine shared a video on Facebook that made my blood boil on multiple levels. The video depicted a bunch of guys tormenting a woman as she tried to use the bathroom. Apparently, these guys called security on her for trying to use the bathroom and the security guards asked her for ID to prove her gender. The woman in question dresses in more of a traditionally masculine way. In the video, she is wearing an oversized hoodie, a snapback, and baggy pants. I guess clothing dictates your gender. Good to know.
It's so interesting to see this video, in lieu of the laws being made around transgender people use of public restrooms. This video was posted on the Urban Leak Facebook page at the end of last year and it seems to have found traction again because of recent news.
America needs to make up it's mind. It's one thing to say that and even make laws around the idea that people's identities don't matter. What does matter is what's on their birth certificate according to some state governments? You can't say that and then turn around and ask someone for identification to use the bathroom.
On top of this, it's just clothing. We as a society have given too much power to the fabric we put on our bodies. It's not like this woman is going out of her way to "deceive" anyone. If anything, she's just trying to be comfortable and other people are going out of their way to cause a problem.
Plenty of people have used instances like this to show the kind of struggle transgender people are going through, but unless she is transgender she just won't understand. I saw a post on Tumblr about a transgender person's Twitter posts. The posts chronicle their experience being harassed in a public bathroom despite trying as much as they can to conform to assigned gender stereotypes.
The Twitter posts which were compiled by Mic.com follow photographer Shon Yves experience in a mall bathroom. The posts not only talk about the harassment at that one time but the general issues he faces when going out. The article states that people whisper and make comments where he dresses the way he wants which Yves calls "traditionally feminine" for lack of a better term. He has been followed and even beaten up in men's restrooms.
Transgender people clearly can't win because even when they are using bathrooms that conform with their birth certificates there will always be a problem with someone. Instead of these laws banning people from comfort, we should be passing laws that allow transgender people to be safe from all kinds of harassment instead of letting people hide behind their ignorance.
