BurtReynolds wrote:
Is there any mechanism to stop some perv from saying he's trans and hanging out in women's bathrooms all day? Can someone make him leave? Does he have to produce some proof? Does he even have to wear a wig?
I think it's disingenuous to ask if there are any mechanisms in place to make sure that people aren't perving out in public restrooms; of course there are. If I was at, say, Wal-Mart, and there was some guy standing in the restroom watching people use the toilet, whether he's straight, gay, bi, asexual, cis, trans, a crossdresser, or fucking purple, I'm going to let them know that there's someone in there who's making people uncomfortable. It's then up to them to decide if he's loitering, squatting (not the good kind), or violating other's privacy and then to act accordingly (or maybe he's just waiting for his kid to finish taking a shit; misunderstandings happen, and as long as you act tactfully, you'll be able to figure it out); they have every right to remove someone whom they believe is a safety concern, or to have law enforcement remove them. And yeah, you're going to have some people yelling as they're dragged out: "You're only doing this to me because I'm [insert how they identify themselves here]!" But you're always going to get those nutjobs who try to use their identity as a shield for creeping on others, that doesn't mean gender-identity-conscious policies give people carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want.
its not just assault.Its a privacy issue. If women are uncomfortable with biological males using their bathrooms, that should be respected, and its certainly not for any of us males to say "stop worrying about it! It's not like they are going to rape you."
This is complicated and it's still something I'm struggling with answering, but I'll give it a shot: yes, we should listen to the people whom these laws affect the most and use their input to help educate everyone about what it's all about. But that includes listening to cis women and trans women, straight women and gay women, young women and older women, and so on and so forth. I don't think anyone's done comprehensive studies or surveys or polling about how people feel, and I'd be very interested to see it. I think you're right that it's not up to men to tell women how to feel / what to worry about, but then again: I don't believe that public accommodations should be denied to a minority of the population if there's no credible evidence that these policies actually put people in danger. I think there's also something interesting going on with the fact that most of the most vocal supporters of bathroom-legislation are men, and that there's an element of weird chivalry involved: "We're doing it for the women!" (And then, when they go off book, like NC's candidate for attorney general did, they say things like that the laws are intended to keep society "straight.")
