US: Trans woman stages protest outside McDonald’s after female toilets ban

[Olivia P]

8th June 2014, 4:30 PM, Nick Duffy

A trans woman has staged a protest outside a McDonald's in Richmond, Virginia, after she was told she could not use the female toilets.

Eryn Brown told WTVR: "They would either stop me at the door or just before I got to the door.

"They told me that I wasn't to use the women's bathroom, I'm to use the men's."

Brown says she feels unsafe as a woman in the men's bathroom, and that she could be assaulted.

She said: "That's something that all trans women face, and even trans men face. Violence and possibly getting raped."

More: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/06/08/us-trans-woman-stages-protest-outside-mcdonalds-after-female-toilets-ban/

[Shana-chan]

I love how she's doing this. I love how the news never once misgendered her and how those two people seemed to be in favor of her/us. As for that Mc D's, shame on them but I'm somewhat glad this is happening as it gives more awareness to us/the world about us. Also, that response from Mc D's was a generic one and is filled with a load of crap. (Mainly referring to the bit about inclusion of all, bull!)

[suzifrommd]

I love how the news never once misgendered her and how those two people seemed to be in favor of her/us.

Not surprising, since it is an LGBT news site, right?

As for the story, it's very surprising. The response was only from a representative of this particular franchise. I'd be curious whether the corporate center has been contacted about this. There are a lot of trans people and allies that eat in McD's. It would surprise me if the McD's corporate are on board with the bathroom ban.

[JohannaJohn]

I don't live in the USA now but I did previously.  I live in Latin America.  But my understanding is that in the USA there are no federal laws about this subject, and it is handled locally.  Having to "show your genitals" as some security guards have ordered, is absurd.  I would recommend being low profile.  Maybe "sneak in" during off-peak hours without raising a stink about it.

My understanding is that many European countries have much more protective and stong laws about protecting these rights.  Canada, I don't know.  Does anyone know about Canada?

In the Latin country where I live, for sure there are no such protective laws.  I haven't fully transitioned, as I am only 3 and a half weeks on hormones.

I think in MY case I will simply continue to use male restrooms for now.

If in near future my condition changes sufficiently, I may need to simply look for smaller restaurants or shopping centers with minimal security guards, and go into the women's room when there are no other women present, or maybe one other women, get a stall quickly, get in and out quickly, and not try to apply any makeup in the restroom...do that at home I suppose, or in front of a mirror in a public place, when I reach that stage of "coming out."

[LeftistLeslie]

They should call this protest a ">-bleeped-< in"

[Jill F]

They should call this protest a ">-bleeped-< in"

*spits out coffee on monitor*

You have to warn me!

[muffinpants]

I read about this awhile back, and unfortunately this happened in the city I live in, just down the road from me!! That was the mcd's I would stop by whenever I was being lazy. Needless to say, I stopped going there, and I am proud of that woman for standing up for her rights. I was so glad that our local news actually did a piece on this story, but the comments when they posted it on facebook... wow. It's so depressing to know how idiotic and bigoted the people that live around me are. and just as a side note, I don't think they could even know she was trans from just seeing her. I hear that she sometimes stands with a sign asking for money for srs so I'm guessing she has a bit of a reputation that people can't handle. Hate that this crap happens.. but it's even worse feeling when it is so close to home

[Carrie Liz]

Those management responses are always the best... it's never anything but a bunch of PR bulls***. "Here at ___ we take the utmost care to ensure diversity and meeting the needs of our clients, blah blah blah, don't sue us, blah blah blah."

Hooray to the local news station who reported on this and actually got the pronouns right and reported the story respectfully. I do wish they wouldn't have used "transgender" as a noun, though. "Eryn Brown is a transgender." Ugh... no she's not... she's a transgender woman. Transgender is an adjective, people, not a verb, not a noun.

I'm probably just being a nitpicky grammar nazi, but it really annoys me when people say "she's a transgender," or "she's been transgendering for ___ months." Again, no, we're not "transgenders," we're transgender people, or trans women, or trans men. And we're not "transgendering," we're transitioning.

Okay, rant over.

It's disgusting that this McDonald's is denying her the right to use the bathroom, especially since she has a freaking therapist letter.

(Side note: were they really just interviewing random people on the street and asking them for their opinions? I guess it's good that people acknowledge that it's discrimination, but really? Just random people's opinions? Nice in-depth reporting there, news team...)