Pride Week events demonstrate need for gender-neutral bathrooms
By Roshni Oommen
Monday, April 5, 2010
http://www.kansan.com/news/2010/apr/05/pride-week-events-demonstrate-need-gender-neutral-/The routine task of choosing a restroom couldn't have been more difficult for Matthew Blankers, a senior from Claremont, Calif. He says he was born in a woman's body, but as a masculine woman who was often mistaken for a boy. Even before he knew it was possible to be transgender, Blankers noticed that he acted, dressed, and talked, in a way that was more masculine than feminine. Sometimes others would be alarmed when he would walk into a women's restroom — the one supposedly for him.
"It's always been something that's created a lot of tension," Blankers said. "It felt really terrible. I was socialized female, and here I was, scaring other females."
