Bathroom issue?

[Urban Christina]

Hi. I'm a MTF transgender. I live as and look female full time now but my license still says I'm male (I have to live as a woman for a full year before changing the gender on my license and it's my first month now). I should be asking my therapist this but I don't see him until next month. If I use a woman's bathroom tonight at a bar and someone knows, can they call the police on me since I'm still legally male? Or it is most likely it won't happen? Or must I use the men's bathroom and let them assume I'm a "gay" male?

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

See if you therapist will write you a carry letter.  One that states you are under their care and that you are to be treated as a woman, at all times.  It might not keep you out of trouble, but it could not hurt.  I have had mine since 2008.

[MadelineB]

It depends on the state or country that you live in, CaliforniaChris. In the US, some states don't have any protection for transgender individuals. Some states have protections in place for transgender individuals, but the law excludes bathrooms from that protection. And some states have the whole deal.

If you are living in California (not Baja) then you have a right to use whatever public accomodation fits your gender. However anyone can call the police, and the police don't always follow the law, so it is best to use the restroom that matches how you are presenting. A carry letter, as Ms. O'Brien suggested, is a very good idea. My physician called it my "get out of jail free card", and that despite living in a state with full protections.

From a publication by NCLrights.org:

California's Unruh Civil Rights Act prohibits sex discrimination in public
accommodations and defines "sex" to include gender identity. The Act is written
broadly and states that "[a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and
equal, and no matter what their sex, . . . are entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business
establishments of every kind whatsoever," although that broad definition has been
narrowed somewhat by the state's courts.

[Diane Elizabeth]

       I can't speak for California laws, but in Minnesota I was able to change the gender marker on my DL without the one year rule.  When I applied for my new DL I paid for a variance to change my gender also.  All per my name change court order.

[cvetoslava]

       I can't speak for California laws, but in Minnesota I was able to change the gender marker on my DL without the one year rule.  When I applied for my new DL I paid for a variance to change my gender also.  All per my name change court order.

With court order I got an new high school diploma in Minnesota.

[cindianna_jones]

I think that it is a good idea to have a carry letter with you at all times, even if you don't use the public restrooms. You never know when you'll need it.

[Shadowneya]

http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/ is the best place to find out for California law...

but if you live here Chris it is actually against the law for them to even ask you... that is a fact... i do know that San Francisco has a gender neutrality  law which makes all bathrooms in SF Gender Identified...  I am volunteering at a LGBTQ and my Director loves this webpage... just some FYI's and the Resource page