These guys clearly have no idea what goes on in women’s restrooms.
Transgender-rights activists say, “Trans people just want to pee.”
You know what? No one has ever stopped them. Ever. Everyone has always been allowed to pee in the restroom that is reserved for people of their sex.
But now girls and women are told that any man who claims to be a woman should be allowed in women's restrooms, because restrooms are just used for peeing. These men claim that the only way a woman would know if the person using the stall next to her is a man is by peeking through the cracks of the stalls or under the stall door, and they shame and berate women who balk.
These guys clearly have no idea what goes on in women’s restrooms.
The women’s restroom is not just used for the toilets; it is a safe haven for women and girls-- or it used to be.
Last year, I went to the women’s restroom inside the courthouse to change my clothes. All the stalls were occupied so I undressed in the open area in front of the sinks. A man walked in.
He stared at me as I struggled to cover myself. Though this man wore lipstick, he was obviously not a woman. He neither looked nor behaved like a woman. (Women respectfully avert their eyes when another woman is in a state of undress.)
I did not consent to this man seeing me undressed, nor should he have the right to violate a space that is reserved for girls and women.
Besides peeing, for what other purposes do girls and women use the public restroom?
We change clothes for work, or for the gym, or for going out, or if we had a spill.
We adjust our pantyhose.
We adjust our bras.
We change our pads and tampons.
We rinse out our underwear when we’re caught off guard by our menses, or when our menstrual products fail.
We may miscarry our pregnancies there, since we don’t get to schedule that event either.
Muslim women retreat to the restroom to adjust a hijab or remove a niqab to attend to personal needs that can’t be dealt with elsewhere in public.
We escape predatory men who don’t respect the word, “No.”
But now those predatory men follow us right inside.
Women go to the women's restroom when we have to do things we don’t want men to see or be a part of.
Some religions prohibit women from exposing certain parts of their bodies to men, and the women’s restroom provides them a sanctuary, too. Without a protected, female-only space, these women’s ability to venture away from home is limited.
And of course, we also use the toilets in women’s restrooms. But many women do not feel comfortable doing so with a boyfriend or husband in the room, let alone a man she doesn’t even know.
Why do men who try to present as women insist they must use the women’s restroom? They say they don’t feel comfortable using a restroom with men in it.
Wow.
Neither do we, guys. Neither do we.
Erin Brewer is a partner with Partners for Ethical Care. Contact Dr. Brewer via support@partnersforethicalcare.com.