Houston’s Bathroom Myth Campaign Opens up Transgender Women to More Violence

[stephaniec]

Houston's Bathroom Myth Campaign Opens up Transgender Women to More Violence

http://www.basicrights.org/news/houstons-bathroom-myth-campaign-opens-up-transgender-women-to-more-violence/

Basic Rights/By: Mikki Gillette

"This year's election saw the disappointing failure of Houston voters to uphold their city's Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which offered full civil rights protections to its LGBTQ community.

To defeat the ordinance, HERO's opponents cynically employed a strategy centered on "the Bathroom Myth": the idea that allowing transgender residents the right to use the restrooms and facilities that align with their gender identities will lead to an outbreak of rapes and assaults by cisgender men posing as transgender women to invade women's bathrooms."

[suzifrommd]

I think we're missing the point. Yes, those attempting to dampen support for HERO used the possibility of predators in the ladies' but, that's not how voters saw the bill.

The vast majority of cisgender people have nothing against our using the restroom. However, they are concerned that it would no longer be possible to eject a male predator from the ladies' because of HERO - There would be fear of a lawsuit.

This is a legitimate fear (as opposed to the idea of a rapist claiming to be transgender, which has never happened.) A business owner *will* think twice about ejecting a male presenting person from a women's restroom, and I actually *can* understand why that makes people afraid.

[Dee Marshall]

Unfortunately, Suzi, all the person has to do in that case is to claim to be MtF and using the "required" restroom. Defeating or for that matter keeping HERO doesn't solve that "problem". We know that no trans person has committed rape in a restroom, but I haven't seen reports of a CIS person claiming to be trans to do it, either.

[cheryl reeves]

All this hype over bathrooms and locker rooms,sheesh just use the bathroom you are comfortable with and use it properly. I've used both mens and women's rooms with no problems. Lets get real here.

Mod Edit: Removed parts that advocated separation of transgender people or requiring transgender people to live a certain way.

[Joi]

Houston has had a law on the books since the early seventies that basically says anyone, yes anyone (including cis) that creates a disturbance in a public restroom is subject to arrest. So a cis woman who decides to go on a rant if she objected to a trans woman or a trans man in "her" restroom would be subject to this law. 

[IdontEven]

Except that whoever is "creating" the disturbance could be pretty subjectively applied at the discretion of the responding officers.

[Joi]

This is true!  It is a contentious issue open to interpretation.  At least there's a law in place to deal with it.