VOICES | In Transit
by Courtney O'Donnell
Where to Pee?
Nature's calling shouldn't be a cringe moment for trans people but it often is. Technology and Portland are helping to improve things, though.
As trans people go about their lives, there’s the daily
dilemma of where to pee? Aside from our homes,
and perhaps workplace and social routines, “where
to pee?” is the question trans people are most likely
to ask ourselves when we’re out and about. Unfor-
tunately, we usually just mumble in silence and look
for the lesser evil of the choices we usually have — a
male or female restroom — knowing that using one
or the other could result in being shouted at or vio-
lently attacked.
Trans people have been physically harmed for using the seemingly
safer female restroom as evidenced by a recent east coast attack on a
transgender fast food customer that was captured on videotape and
closed-circuit TV. This nationally reported incident resulted in lengthy
jail terms for the two female attackers.
Gatekeepers can also get in the way of safe bathroom decisions. Across
the river in Vancouver, a bartender denied a trans woman access to
the women’s restroom, which later led to local media coverage. While
television news cameras were rolling, the bartender explained she has
no problems with trans customers, but drew the line at allowing the
trans patron usage of the ladies’ room because the trans woman is “still
a boy and she wants to go in the woman’s restroom…” Although the
trans patron has since filed a complaint with that state’s human rights
commission, it shows that trans people not only have to face difficulty
with other users of public rest rooms, but also with those that own them.
Gender-neutral restrooms, of course, are the solution, and down the road
there will be more of them as the paradigm of public restrooms changes
as a result of transgender advocacy.
or trans-safe bathrooms around the country and makes it available to
anyone at no cost. I found that Portland appears to be in the top five
cities with reported gender-neutral bathroom sites. I spotted numerous
Portland businesses, retailers, malls and movie theaters in the database.
Browsing through the Portland locations listed will bring peace of mind
to many trans people in the city.
In addition, there is an app for the iPhone that taps into the safe2pee data.
By utilizing GPS, the TranSquat app can bring up the gender-neutral
locations closest to you. It’s community driven so that users can add or
update the database. Those new to Portland, or on the go in another city,
can use this app to make safe choices. Trans man Billy Bolt developed
the app to help fund his sex reassignment surgery — a really clever idea.
There isn’t an Android version at this time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if
one came out down the road.
Gender-neutral
restrooms, of course,
are the solution...
To help make the where to pee(?) dilemma a thing of the past, trans and
the entirety of the LGBT community, as well as their allies can make
a routine habit of urging places and businesses they frequent to adopt
gender-neutral bathroom policies. Not only might some businesses like
to be ahead of the curve on providing this access if given information of
the need, others could be persuaded of the financial sense it makes when
shown the safe2pee database, especially if their location is likely to be
suggested to potential customers using the TranSquat app.
In Portland, a number of businesses and agencies are already on Nature’s calling shouldn’t be a cringe moment. We now have options and
board with gender-neutral bathrooms. The Q Center, Reed College, solutions. More will come our way if we speak up. Thanks for reading.
PSU, SMYRC, and Portland Loos already have gender-neutral sites. A Your thoughts and comments are always welcome! §
Portland business, Floyd’s Coffee Shop, adopted the idea after a customer
suggested it.
In Transit is written by Courtney O’Donnell for Just Out. Courtney is a Transgender actress,
A website — safe2pee.org — collects information about gender-neutral
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JustOut.com
advocate, and writer, including being a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. She is
also the star of the film 'Lexie Cannes'. Reach her at Courtney@JustOut.com.
December 2012