I probably never will really understand how it feels to be aware that your body does not reflect the person you believe yourself to be and that expressing those feelings to the world can make others hate you on that basis alone.
I do understand the first part and I suggest lots of humans can understand self-image issues.
But I have never worked around or associated with a transgender person (that I know of).
So I don’t know the rules.
And I bet a lot of other people in the USA who harbor no malice towards the trans community would also like some simple rules to use as a guide.
Example #1:
I have been in the process of emptying my bladder in a public restroom when what appears to be an attractive women in a short dress steps up, hikes her dress and empties her bladder into the urinal next to me.
In that example we both act like reasonable adults and everyone is OK. I am pretty sure that guy just needed a piss, he had no other agenda for entering the restroom. While the experience may be new to me there is no harm done and I will be less surprised the next time it happens. In summation, no changes needed as the current system works great.
Example #2:
A young mother is in a public restroom with her five year old daughter. An older man wearing a frumpy wig, an ill fitting dress and poorly applied makeup enters the bathroom, He is not convincing anyone he is a woman as he walks towards the woman and her daughter.
In this example the guy in the dress still just wants to urinate and has no other agenda, the stalls are behind the woman and her daughter. He has to walk past them to use the facilities.
In the USA we have a lot of people who say that mother can rightfully be scared, concerned and ready to defend herself and her child from what she perceives as a threat.
I suggest the mother feels that way due to ignorance. She is frightened because this new experience is associated with a well established bad experience in her mind. A man entering a women’s public restroom has to be up to no good. She has been taught that her entire life.
Some men are ignorant and believe gay or transgender people are uncontrollably attracted to straight men so an encounter like I described in Example #1 scares them. While I suggest that fear is unreasonable it cannot be denied their fear is identical to the fear of the woman in Example #2. He is frightened because this new experience is associated with a well established bad experience in his mind.
While I am also ignorant, my experience with any transgender person is benign because I do not associate a bathroom and any man in my immediate vicinity as a threat.
Why Explain All This?
Because I need to ask a favor.
If you were a transgender person and we were out together I could easily warn you about the people who were real trouble and who you could safely ignore. My familiarity with my culture gives me insight into the people in that culture. Even if you were oblivious I could let you know who was likely to cause trouble or harm.
I am pretty sure that people within the transgender community can tell who is trouble and who isn’t trouble within their own community. You can tell who is really trans and who is faking it.
I have admitted my ignorance on the subject.
So I ask the transgender community to offer a set off guidelines that a person who is in this new situation can apply and be assured they are not in danger or being tricked maliciously.
I intend to use this information when ever I encounter anyone who fears transgender people sharing a restroom.
Thanks!
Read More
