The Trans Scare

Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin and Gay News Blog I was introduced to this lovely piece of transphobia:

The commercial, produced by Citizens For Good Public Policy, shows a small white blond girl entering a public restroom in a park. Moments later an older white male wearing a ball cap enters the same restroom. Blasted across the screen are the words “On January 28, 2008, your City Commission made this legal. Is that what you want for Gainesville?” CFGPP’s website even goes even further.  In the news section it says:

“Proponents of Gainesville’s gender identity ordinance insist that accommodations for Gender Identity Disorder are commonplace, and point with pride to the number of cities and counties passing laws similar to Gainesville’s ordinance. But a balanced perspective must also take into consideration widespread restroom rapes and other related molestations against women and young girls that occur when males enter female restrooms. Here is a short list that represents a large problem:”

It then lists crimes committed by men against children in restrooms. The insinuation is that transgender women are really men, and that transgender women commit sex crimes in restrooms.  The problem with mentioning the  “widespread restroom rapes” and molestations is that non of these crimes were committed by transgender/transsexual women. In fact, I’ve never seen a documented case of a transgender person committing a sex crime against a child in a restroom.

The reality is that transgender people exist, and they need to go to the restroom. When this topic is discussed,  transgender women are typically the center of attention. The incidence of M2F transsexuals committing sexual crimes in restrooms is nonexistent. But the violence that surrounds transgender people in bathrooms is all too real. I know this personally. I was cornered in a mens  restroom early on in my transition and physically cornered and harassed.

The irony of it all is that most of these transpobic people don’t realize is that by their own actions they will be forcing this man to use the women’s restroom:

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Maybe the youtube video could be remade to say

“Do you want THIS man using the ladies roomYour City Commission is forcing him to use the women’s restroom because he has a vagina. Is that what you want for Gainesville?

Marti Abernathey is the founder of the Transadvocate and the previous managing editor. Abernathey has worn many different hats, including that of podcaster, activist, and radiologic technologist. She's been a part of various internet radio ventures such as TSR Live!, The T-Party, and The Radical Trannies, TransFM, and Sodium Pentathol Sunday. As an advocate she's previously been involved with the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance, Rock Indiana Campaign for Equality, and the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition. She's taken vital roles as a grass roots community organizer in The Indianapolis Tax Day Protest (2003), The Indy Pride HRC Protest (2004), Transgender Day of Remembrance (2004), Indiana's Witch Hunt (2005), and the Rally At The Statehouse (the largest ever GLBT protest in Indiana - 3/2005). In 2008 she was a delegate from Indiana to the Democratic National Convention and a member of Barack Obama's LGBT Steering and Policy Committee. Abernathey currently hosts the Youtube Channel "The T-Party with Marti Abernathey."