So much of this backlash is due to lack of understanding. I've had the privilege of having a male friend become one of my dearest female friends. In the early part of the transition, I had to work through my own angst and untangle a mental pretzel in my own soul. In the final analysis every level-headed person comes to realize that gender dysphoria is "being on the wrong bus" throughout life for those that have it. Principled conservatives should realize that they have their constitutional right to happiness.

Yet I can remember how I would have been among those protesting these new policies. Not because of the stupid notion of men posing as women to assault or peek at girls in the restroom; but simply because of how uncomfortable it would be to see someone appearing as the opposite gender in the bathroom.

I knew a transgendered woman who worked at Microsoft in the 90's and her transitioning instigated the company to build a gender neutral bathroom for her.

So, despite GOP opposition in the legislature, this is more of a society backlash than a political backlash - as there are plenty of democrats who have a misunderstanding and or prejudice against transsexuals as well.

Okay, let's make everyone use the bathroom that corresponds to their current external genitalia. Two immediate problems, regardless of the ethics:
-Where do intersex people go?
-Do you really want big burly bearded trans men in the ladies' room?

They never think this sort of "think of the children" bullshit through.

why would the Republicans be checking people's genitals anyway ?

& who do they give the job to ?

The response to this backlash is already spelled out in this article: it's illegal to enter a restroom or locker room with intent to hurt someone, and if you do hurt someone you will be arrested and prosecuted. Making accommodations for trans people does not change that. Simple. That, and as @1 points out, "I'm uncomfortable" is not a sufficient reason to deny a law-abiding person access to public facilities.

Typo in paragraph 13. Jinkins is misspelled as Jenkins.

Also if I've removed my gonads, do I have any sex organs? I'm inclined to think not. Oh well, no bathroom for me :(

The problem with laws is the lawsuits. Now any person can claim to be transgender and shower with women/en regardless if they are or not. If they are turned away they can press a lawsuit. We should protect transgender people, but if we are playing the sensitivity card it needs to be played both ways. We should build one off bathrooms for transgender. It will be cheaper than lawsuits. I'm sorry if this makes some people singled out, but it has got to single you out less than being the only person in the bathroom without matching genitalia.

This isn't a homophobic issue. I don't want my child exposed to this in a public pool bathroom. But I would take my son to the shower at ymca knowing that many of the people in the showers are gay. If you have showered at the downtown ymca you will know what I am talking about.

What we have here is a problem caused by the insistence on identifying an individual's gender based on a cursory inspection at birth. The presence of external genitals of a particular type do not actually guarantee an accurate determination of that person's gender.

One of the sticking points is that gender and sex are not actually the same thing. That a person's sex and their gender do not necessarily match is a topic that is making conservative's heads explode.

Conservatives have this deep seated need to label transgender people, and trans women in particular, in the most derogatory manner possible for no other reason than they simply cannot comprehend that someone born male could possibly be willing to give up so much built in male privilege and want to live as a woman instead.

@7 What? "Conservatives can't image someone wanting to give up male privilege" where did you get that nonsense. First, to be a conservative basically means that you have issues with changing traditional issues regarding politics and religion. That doesn't make you a bigot or someone who has issues with peoples gender identity. There are Democrat and Republican idiots in this world. You said it best when you said that sex and gender may not be the same thing. The issue is how do you regulate people who have a different sex to use the same bathrooms as people with different genders. There is no safe way to respond.

@8 "How do regulate people who have a different sex to use the same bathrooms as people with different genders?"
The same way you regulate people who have the same sex - you regulate against misbehavior. Assault is criminal behavior, no matter the sex or gender of the perpetrator.

All of this crap about criminal intent is rubbish. A woman does not have to be raped to be violated. Having a bio male watch her undress and her having no recourse about it is plenty violated enough. If you tell her to put up with it or go somewhere else, you are infringing on her rights as well. Sure there might be some bio males that think they are women that wouldn't look twice at a naked woman, but there are plenty of bio males that call themselves women that are still sexually attracted to women. On top of that, there are plenty of Straight men that would gladly put on a wig and spend the afternoon in the women's locker not even to rape them but just for the free show. The idea that a rape has to happen before anyone has been traumatized is insensitive and ridiculous. And then... What about rape? That worst case scenario. What do you tell the woman who will get raped because a straight guy took advantage of the law and decided he couldn't leave with getting more than a show? What do you tell her? At least the trans women were comfy? What about the rights of real women? That is the height of insensitivity and cruelty. I don't want to hear that I'm a bigot either. I'm a person with an opinion. I support gay marriage and have voted democratic for the past 4 elections. But we need to consider the fact that not every woman is ok with a penis in her locker room or is ok with a bio male not matter what he thinks he is seeing her nude or in other vulnerable positions.

PS

This is NOT about religion. NOT about bigotry. It's about choice being taken away from bio females. At the end of the day, the people who are most desirous for this change is transgender women aka bio males. Bio Males once again telling bio females what to do and that if they want to barge into their dressing rooms... Sorry bio females, the bio males have spoken. You have no choice! Sexism.

I hope Washington is prepared for the coming anti-trans storm. Letting trans women use women's facilities and trans men use men's facilities is about safety and I'm so exhausted seeing rightwing ultra-conservatives and faux-feminists try to claim that trans women are somehow dangerous or invasive when we're the ones who get leered at, insulted, and assaulted regardless of which bathroom we use. No one seems to care that attempts to force trans people to use only facilities based on their genitalia will absolutely put hairy, testosterone-filled men in the women's room: Trans men.

Trans people want to do the same thing anyone wants to do in bathrooms or locker rooms: We want to take care of our business and hope no one is staring or judging us at our most vulnerable moments. This insistence in keeping trans women (because it always comes down to trans women) out of the bathroom calls back to when people wanted to keep black women and gay women out to keep bathrooms safe for what they called "real" women back then. Insisting this is about women's "safety" or "comfort" and not bigotry is ludicrous.

More congressmen have been convicted of misbehavior in bathrooms than trans people.

ANYONE who behaves lewdly in a public bathroom or locker room can be arrested, regardless of gender or presentation--this law in no way changes that.

And trust me, if you MEET a transwoman who's pre-surgical, odds are she'll be shy and retiring to the point of fainting. SHE doesn't want to see her penis--she's MORTIFIED that anyone else might. I speak from experience--I learned every trick there was to use a towel to hide my "shame," which you're adding to.

Trust me, if some feckwit came into a bathroom in a dress and tried to use my condition as an excuse to stare, I'd be first in line to bash him in the junk with a locker door. I've lost friends, whose fear of going out, of being seen and laughed at, drove them to suicide.

I'm sorry you don't want to hear that you're a bigot, because that's likely to happen to you, given how you're acting. Have you ever wanted to commit suicide because you couldn't safely take a pee in a public mall without being SURE you'd be killed? THAT is the height of insensitivity and cruelty.

So my understanding is that there is no longer male and female restrooms, in practice. As a female, I can go into a men's restroom if I see "a hot guy" go in or the female restroom is full and I do not want to wait. While I understand the transgender usage, I am thinking that this new usage by anyone is truly the case, yes?

Thanks, gender-neutral policy

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio…

It's a shame we can't calm the fears in one group without increasing fears in another group. Folks, my wife was raped repeatedly as a child. The residue from that still greatly influences aspects of her life. Our city recently passed a broad LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance which opens restrooms in all venues to men who want to be, or think they might want to be women (transgender?). My love of sixteen years has said she will not be able to go into a ladies room again for fear of meeting a "man" alone. (She has never been able to go into a ladies room at highway rest stops.) I told her, "I can now accompany you"; she said no. As a Christian, I know I sound unfair to almost everyone, but I'd rather there was a separate coin-operated single occupancy bathroom available at all sites for my wife, ladies like her, and transgenders who may also fear for their safety. (Single occupancy family restrooms are also a great idea) I will also fear for young ladies at sports bars where heterosexual young men (some athletes) drink too much and sometimes take women for granted and take advantage of them. Has anyone any knowledge of such behavior--and how open restrooms might or might not become problematic? I have a granddaughter.

@10
Anyone going into a restroom/locker room with lewd intentions is committing a crime, no matter their gender. That has always been the case and remains the case. This does not create a new "excuse" - illegal behavior is still illegal.

This is about making it so that trans people don't have to out themselves every time they use a public restroom. Force some of these convincingly passing trans-men to start using the Women's restrooms (or vice-versa), and you'll have a lot more complaints than you do today.