{"id":29170,"date":"2016-05-02T05:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=29170"},"modified":"2016-04-30T23:56:53","modified_gmt":"2016-05-01T03:56:53","slug":"id-to-pee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/05\/id-to-pee.html","title":{"rendered":"ID to Pee?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m starting to run\u00a0into people who say that\u00a0they\u00a0support trans bathroom access, but that they are still behind\u00a0the American Family Association\u2019s boycott of\u00a0Target, because Target\u2019s policy does nothing to prevent a male predator\u00a0from falsely claiming to be trans and entering the women\u2019s bathroom. This is maddening on a whole host of levels, but has become pervasive enough that I feel the need to address it.<\/p>\n

Let me start by asking this: How would we go about allowing trans people to use the restrooms that match their gender identity while at the same time preventing a male predator from falsely claiming to be trans and entering the women\u2019s bathroom? In practice, what would this look like? From where I\u2019m standing, it looks like the only way to do this would be to say that trans people have to carry some form of proof that they are trans, and be ready to present that if challenged. If this sounds a bit like a police state, that\u2019s because it is<\/em> a bit like a police state. And also? Not every trans woman has access to\u00a0\u201cproof\u201d\u00a0that she is a trans woman. Some trans women haven\u2019t been able to afford the doctors or treatments that might verify this.<\/p>\n

Further, any such policy wouldn\u2019t just affect trans women, it would also affect cis (i.e. non-trans) women. I mentioned in a previous blog post that my elementary-school daughter has sometimes been hassled in the bathroom for not looking enough like a girl; that led to numerous commenters chiming in to say that their daughter, or they themselves, had been in the same situation. I have a friend with a son who has long hair who is similarly challenged. I recently watched a video of police throwing a young lesbian\u00a0out of the women\u2019s restroom over her friends\u2019 protests because she didn\u2019t look feminine enough<\/a> and didn\u2019t have ID with her.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s switch gears for a moment.\u00a0What about little boys\u2019 safety? Statistically, most sexual predators are male, including the vast majority of child sexual predators. Further, pedophiles prey on boys as well as girls. Have\u00a0we really completely forgotten\u00a0the Catholic Church\u2019s sex abuse scandal? I have a young son and I\u2019ve spoken with other mothers of boys, and I\u2019ve noticed a common theme\u2014letting our little boys enter the men\u2019s bathroom, alone, is nerve-wracking. Any policy aimed at keeping male predators out of the women\u2019s bathroom that isn\u2019t coupled with some attempt to do something about male predators in men\u2019s bathrooms<\/em> is shortsighted, because that is where we are sending our boys,<\/em> and yes, predators do prey on boys.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019ve established that the only way to ensure that male predators don\u2019t claim to be trans women\u00a0in order to enter\u00a0the women\u2019s bathrooms and prey on women, while also allowing trans women to enter the women\u2019s bathrooms, is to create a rather draconian identification system whereby individuals must prove they are women (trans or otherwise) to enter or be in the women\u2019s bathrooms. We\u2019ve also established that such a system, while it might in theory prevent male predators\u00a0from falsely claiming to be trans in order to gain access to the women\u2019s bathrooms, would do nothing to protect little boys and in fact would ensure that male predators are confined to the men\u2019s bathrooms with those same little boys<\/em>.<\/p>\n

No male predator has ever, to our knowledge, claimed to be a trans woman in order to enter the women\u2019s bathrooms to prey on women. In contrast, there have been some occasions<\/a> where male predators\u00a0have disguised themselves\u00a0as women in order to enter women\u2019s bathrooms and film using cameras hidden in a purse. Preventing these cases\u00a0would involve requiring cis women to produce ID in order to enter the bathroom, either to a bathroom monitor or if challenged by another individual in the bathroom. Note this\u00a0about\u00a0men pretending to be cis women, not trans women, and that is unrelated to allowing trans women to use the restrooms that match their gender identity and happens regardless of trans bathroom access.<\/p>\n

But you know what?\u00a0Entering a bathroom with a hidden camera in your purse\u00a0(or elsewhere) is already against the law regardless of your gender. In fact, in the limited number of cases I\u2019ve read where a man dressed as a woman in order to enter the women\u2019s bathroom with a filming device, the situation\u00a0came to light because someone noticed that they were being filmed and reported it to management, who called the police. In other words, laws allowing trans women to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity would not<\/em> in fact allow a male predator to legally enter the women\u2019s bathroom to\u00a0prey on women because<\/em> preying on women is illegal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And besides this, guess what? All of this is\u00a0completely unrelated from what appears to be<\/a> the most common form of bathroom predation\u2014male employees placing hidden cameras inside women\u2019s restrooms in their establishments. Where is the outrage about that<\/em>, I wonder? I\u2019ve as yet seen no attempt to legislate against male employees cleaning women\u2019s restrooms, or entering them when they\u2019re closed. If we\u2019re talking about preventing bathroom predation, shouldn\u2019t this\u00a0be our first<\/em> concern, given that cameras hidden in the bathroom appear to be the most common way in which women are preyed on in the women\u2019s restroom?<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s review. First, filming or otherwise spying on others in the bathroom is already illegal regardless of your gender. Second, planting hidden cameras appears to be the most common form of bathroom predation, but no one appears to be talking about that. Third, no male predator has ever claimed to be trans in order to enter the women\u2019s bathrooms, even though Target\u2019s bathroom policy has been in place in many stores for decades. Some male predators have dressed as women to gain access to the women\u2019s restroom, and\u00a0banning trans people from women\u2019s bathroom would not change this. When caught filming, these male predators have been thrown out of the bathrooms because again, preying on women is illegal.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s bring things back around to where we started. Individuals who say they think trans people should be allowed to use the bathrooms that conform to their gender identity but that Target\u2019s policy of not questioning those who claim to be trans does not do enough to protect women<\/em>\u00a0are putting more weight on an unlikely hypothetical problem than they are on a very real and already existing problem.\u00a0I\u2019ve seen some people say that given Target\u2019s (supposedly new but actually longstanding) policy on trans bathroom access, they no longer feel safe using the bathrooms at Target. Well you know what?\u00a0Welcome to what it feels like to be trans.<\/em>\u00a0Can you even imagine what it must feel like to feel in danger in every public restroom you ever use?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the reality for trans people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And you know what? The only way to solve\u00a0the\u00a0unlikely hypothetical problem of male predators claiming to be trans women to gain access to women\u2019s bathrooms (to do illegal things that will get them kicked out) while also allowing trans people to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity<\/em> is to police the hell out of everyone who enters the women\u2019s restroom. I\u2019m fairly certain most people don\u2019t want to enact\u00a0an \u201cID to pee\u201d policy, which would, yes, affect cis women as well as trans women.<\/p>\n

Actually, let me put it another way. We have always allowed\u00a0women in the women\u2019s bathroom. Some male predators have always pretended\u00a0t women in order to\u00a0enter the women\u2019s bathroom to prey on women. Some of them have been successful while\u00a0others have been apprehended, because we do have laws against preying on women. Now trans women are using the women\u2019s bathrooms. Could\u00a0male predators pretend to be trans women in order to enter the women\u2019s bathrooms and prey on women? It hasn\u2019t happened yet, but sure, it could. The results would be the same as when male predators pretend to be cis women\u2014some would be successful while others would be apprehended, because we do have laws against preying on women. But wait, hang on\u2014now<\/em> everyone is upset?\u00a0Where was the concern before?<\/em><\/p>\n

The next time someone tells you they\u2019re all for trans people being able to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, but that Target\u2019s policy as-is is dangerous, ask them if they\u2019re suggesting an ID to pee policy. Point out that men can already dress as women to gain access to the women\u2019s bathroom, and in fact, that we know they sometimes do this. Remind them that they can\u2019t have it both ways. Either trans people have to be allowed to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity without being questioned, or we need to create an ID to pee policy that applies to both cis and trans women\u2014and I\u2019m pretty sure nobody wants that. And while you\u2019re at it, remind them that predatory behavior is already illegal, and that learning more about bathroom safety\u2014including how to recognize a hidden camera\u2014will serve them far better than joining those\u00a0boycotting Target.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next time someone tells you they’re all for trans people being able to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, but that Target’s policy as-is is dangerous, ask them if they’re suggesting an ID to pee policy. Point out that men can already dress as women to gain access to the women’s bathroom, and in fact, that we know they sometimes do this. Remind them that they can’t have it both ways. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":29178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[110],"class_list":["post-29170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-lgbtq"],"yoast_head":"\nID to Pee?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The next time someone tells you they're all for trans people being able to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, but that Target's policy as-is is dangerous, ask them if they're suggesting an ID to pee policy. Point out that men can already dress as women to gain access to the women's bathroom, and in fact, that we know they sometimes do this. 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