The bathroom battle
Published 04/09/2009
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
http://ebar.com/columns/column.php?sec=transmissionsWhen you are transgender and fighting for rights, it all comes down to one thing: the bathroom. It sounds ridiculous to me that my need to be treated as an equal in this world, and have the same rights as everyone else ends up always boiling down to potty politics.
On a personal level, it's one of the first things any transgender woman has to deal with in the workplace, as that human resources person tries to find them a place to do their business that won't cause trouble with the rest of their employees. The question, "which bathroom does you use?" becomes one every transperson comes to hate. The public restroom is the place we feel the most threatened – and yes, the place where we may well threaten others simply by being there.
That last point is one the religious right and other extreme anti-LGBT groups have latched onto, seeing it as an easy way to target transgender rights. They see this as our Achilles' heel. They may well be right, at least in the short term.
