There’s been a lot in the news lately about the bathroom rights of transgendered people, particularly here in New York, and I feel the need to do a post about it. Just to recap:
- In July, a transgender person was attacked with a lead pipe in the McDonald’s across from the Empire State Building, by the store manager, for using the bathroom (with permission). When the police arrived, they arrested the transwoman, not the manager. The police have told the woman’s lawyer that “the case is closed,” and as far as I know, McDonald’s has not commented on the matter.
- The MTA just settled a lawsuit by a Verizon employee stationed at Grand Central Terminal, who was harassed by MTA police whenever she tried to use the women’s room.
- On October 3, three “trans youth” (an exonym) were arrested and verbally abused while trying to use the bathrooms in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. A Port Authority spokesman said, “The police inspector is very concerned and is looking into it.” Update: this article in the New York Blade provides more details of the verbal abuse that the Port Authority Police laid on these youth, and how State Senator Tom Duane is helping to pressure the Port Authority to comply with the law.
The MTA settlement has been making the news, followed by the blogs, with some predictable responses by clueless bloggers. Some of the articles are sympathetic, some not. Here are a few examples:
- First, a surprisingly respectful and sensitive article by Clemente Lisi of the New York Post.
- The Daily News is generally a little more clueful than the Post, so their insensitive take was pretty surprising. However, it closes with a progressive, open-minded quote.
- The funniest quote was from a blog called Metadish: “Has anyone actually seen the bathrooms at Grand Central Terminal? This is like a giant step back for the transgendered community. Maybe next time you could lobby for some bathrooms that aren’t public health hazards.”
The other comments all fall into one category, but I’ve got a lot to say about that. Rather than use “more…” I’m going to create another post.