Anonymous wrote:What if someone came up to you and said, "Hi, I'm George Washington." You laugh and say "nice try." But they continue and say that they really are GW in the flesh and insist you refer to them as "Mr. President." Would you do it since that's how they choose to identify? Would you instruct your kids to stand up when that person enters the room?

Just shut the hell up.

Anonymous wrote:I taught many classes in the Women's Studies/Gender Politics department, so I get the terms and understand how people make sense of them.

Here's what always baffles me. Why the concern about bathrooms? There are stalls, and not much to see. We don't have gendered bathrooms in our homes. If the women's bathroom has a line out the door, I have gone into the men's. I just had to pee.

As far as I can tell, the panic sets in when schools, especially, start making public rules that say that kids can use bathrooms that conform with their gender identity. Or when people realize that this kid that identified as a boy in 1st and 2nd grade, is suddenly presenting as a girl and wants to use the girl bathroom. People don't want these boys in the girl's bathroom. They might not really care if the boy looks like a girl but they are afraid that boys will start trying to get into the girls bathroom, sneak a peek, be disruptive and make the girls scared -- and that no one will be able to discipline the boys who do that kind of thing, because they boys will say they are transgender.

It is CRAZY on so many levels, but that is what I think people are really concerned about.

What if someone came up to you and said, "Hi, I'm George Washington." You laugh and say "nice try." But they continue and say that they really are GW in the flesh and insist you refer to them as "Mr. President." Would you do it since that's how they choose to identify? Would you instruct your kids to stand up when that person enters the room?

One of my close friends in a transgender man. For those who may not know what that means, he was born a female but identifies as a man. He has been on testosterone for several years and he looks like a man. He has not had gender reassignment surgery so he does still have female parts. If you saw him in a women's bathroom, as many people believe he should do based on what's in his pants, you'd think there was a man in the women's bathroom, which is exactly the argument for why transgender women shouldn't be allowed in there. No one checks my genitals when I enter a public bathroom. Why do transgender individuals need to be treated any differently??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...and their desire to use the gender they identify with bathrooms.

I am a conservative. I don't think lesbian, homosexual, or bisexual behavior is morally appropriate. However, I respect their right to choose the lifestyle they want. Transgenders asking to use womens bathrooms when they are biologically male seems an entirely different application. The last thing I want to see is a man in the womens bathroom. What exactly will transgenders do- will they need/use urinals? Is this in our future?

In the case of transgender, the brain wouldn't be biologically male.

Do a little more research to understand.

Their chromosones are biologically male.

Their skeletal structure is male. Their reproductive organs are male. Their hormones are male.

This view is why there is such a high suicide rate in transgender people. So much societal judgement. So much self judgement.

Gaia wrote:I am a transgender woman. I have a penis and have no intention of ever having surgery to change it into a vagina. Yet, I am still a woman.

I have been physically attacked using men's restrooms before. I have had men threaten to rape me while in a men's BR before, and I have been in legitimate fear of my life in men's restrooms before.

I just need to pee! Stalls are fine and I like to sit. I somehow manage to find the self-control to point my penis down into the bowl, and I make a mess I clean it up.

But I will always try to hold it before going to a public restrooms. Always.

I am so sad and upset to hear that you have have been attacked just for trying to use the restroom. I hope your post will inspire people to be more compassionate and decent in the future. No one deserves to be treated like that. Hugs ....

Anonymous wrote:I taught many classes in the Women's Studies/Gender Politics department, so I get the terms and understand how people make sense of them.

Here's what always baffles me. Why the concern about bathrooms? There are stalls, and not much to see. We don't have gendered bathrooms in our homes. If the women's bathroom has a line out the door, I have gone into the men's. I just had to pee.

There's a long history of bathroom panic: http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/11/10/anti_trans_bathroom_propaganda_has_roots_in_racial_segregation.html

I taught many classes in the Women's Studies/Gender Politics department, so I get the terms and understand how people make sense of them.

Here's what always baffles me. Why the concern about bathrooms? There are stalls, and not much to see. We don't have gendered bathrooms in our homes. If the women's bathroom has a line out the door, I have gone into the men's. I just had to pee.

I can not understand all this worry about men in the woman's bathroom. Being a woman, I've been in women's bathrooms. There is nothing to see there. Just some woman standing in front of a sink, washing their hands and putting on lip stick. Women's bathrooms have stalls. It wouldn't matter if normal men came in. They won't see anything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this issue either. Democrat here. I don't think gay/transgender is morally wrong. But think transgender folks should use single bathrooms and if they aren't available they should use the one that matches their equipment.

+1.

Why are you checking people's equipment in public bathrooms?

Anonymous wrote:It's not a stretch to get from this bathroom thing to men using the women's locker room at the gym. Not okay with me.

Do you live in Maryland? Maryland has a law banning discrimination based on gender identity. I haven't heard of any problems with gym locker rooms in Maryland; have you?

Anonymous wrote:

Their chromosomes are biologically male.

Their skeletal structure is male. Their reproductive organs are male. Their hormones are male.

Have you checked everybody's chromosomes?

Also, have you heard of androgen insensitivity syndrome? People with androgen insensitivity syndrome are generally women whose sex chromosomes are XY. Human biology is more complicated than you think.

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/androgen-insensitivity-syndrome

Gaia wrote:I am a transgender woman. I have a penis and have no intention of ever having surgery to change it into a vagina. Yet, I am still a woman.

I have been physically attacked using men's restrooms before. I have had men threaten to rape me while in a men's BR before, and I have been in legitimate fear of my life in men's restrooms before.

I just need to pee! Stalls are fine and I like to sit. I somehow manage to find the self-control to point my penis down into the bowl, and I make a mess I clean it up.

But I will always try to hold it before going to a public restrooms. Always.

Genuinely curious - what keeps you from just going into the women's bathroom and popping into a stall? Is it the worry that a fellow female-bathroom patron would attack/threaten these same things? Or that the fellow female-bathroom patron would freak out and call the cops/tell her biker boyfriend outside/etc?

(I am not meaning to be cavalier).

You people worry about the stupidest things. It freaks me out that you pay so much attention to the other people in a public restroom.

I am a transgender woman. I have a penis and have no intention of ever having surgery to change it into a vagina. Yet, I am still a woman.

I have been physically attacked using men's restrooms before. I have had men threaten to rape me while in a men's BR before, and I have been in legitimate fear of my life in men's restrooms before.

I just need to pee! Stalls are fine and I like to sit. I somehow manage to find the self-control to point my penis down into the bowl, and I make a mess I clean it up.

But I will always try to hold it before going to a public restrooms. Always.