Another Trans Bathroom Story, But Something Smells Wrong

[Guest Jenn348]

http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/17/another-transgender-student-claims-discrimination-over-bathroom-locker-room-use/

Daily Caller gets abusive of trans* people, the commenters pick up the ball and run with it.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/17/daily-caller-equal-treatment-for-transgender-pe/195919

Media Matters takes on Daily Caller.

Honestly though, after reading up on the story, something just seems wrong. I can't put my finger on it 100%, but here's my guesses...

Is this some sort of "false flag" thing being done to make transgender people look bad? The 22-yo trans man lives with a 56-yo partner who looks like a very unattractive MTF (no offense intended to the unattractive MTF crowd, but at least the ones I've know *try* to look good. The person in the DC article picture looks like she doesn't even try to look female beyond long hair). Apparently they've been in court for criminal activity and are the type who go around looking for trouble. My point: something just looks fake about this.

Also, what male would complain that somebody they believe to be female has come into the locker room? Isn't that the kind of fantasy that fetish pr0n is made about? Just sayin...

I know that the anti-trans crowd is getting paranoid now to the point where cisgender women are getting ejected from restrooms if they look too masculine, but most people are afraid to actively question somebody's gender history unless it's smack-in-the-face blatantly obvious that somebody is transgender.

Like I said, these are just my ramblings, and I'm not 100% sure why my red light is coming on about this one. Something just seems off.

[VickySGV]

Hopefully someone can find more details on this from other actual news services. I had seen the second one of your links on another web site earlier, but had not seen the original post by the DC. I agree that something does not smell right here. More information is needed before I can make a judgment though. Something sounds too bad to be true in my book.

[Guest KimberlyF]

This has been going on for a few years. Johnson specifically believes he has a right to shower in front of other men regardless of how they feel.

[Drea]

Not much facts there and second article attacks the writer of first about pronouns and bias but doesn't add any facts.

The first article describes him being on hormones "for a few months and claims the school ID, school application, etc says female. Don't know how accurate. I would expect if he had any surgeries that would have been mentioned or if a gross omission like that occurred the second article would have highlighted it.

He clearly presents male and assume a few months of hormones is more like a year or two, and assuming that he has male state ID, male federal ID so legally "transitioned" would his use of the mens showers in an open format shower (not individual closed stalls) be appropriate given, without surgery, that he would have an obviously female body (tho maybe hairy one) to any other male using the facility at the time?

If the school offered a completely private changing and shower area, would it be reasonable for the school to require him to use that?

And if the assumptions were changed such that he was just on hormones for a few months as it said, all legal documentation said female, was getting hormones via informed consent so didn't have diagnosis, so this is strictly a matter his self identification (the only thing some protections require) backed up by his presentation, does that change the answers to the above?

Just food for thought.

[Guest KimberlyF]

Obviously this is college aged individuals, but one thing Penn could do to answer the whole shower issue is to pass a law like California? Then if there were someone like Johnson in HS they could shower with the guys.

[Ravin]

In general, there's something to be said for moving away from open communal showers in general. Not only does it cause problems for the trans community, but for many religious people for whom it violates modesty rules of their religion to be naked in front of non-relatives. I've never, on the other hand, heard anyone complain about having private shower stalls instead of open showers.

[Ravin]

The first op ed piece linked to this article: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/transgender-man-claims-discrimination-631663/

He's being investigated for bomb threats, and since when is GID any factor in grounds for granting Social Security Disability? I agree something seems a little off. At the least, the whole thing suggests he isn't very stable, and we probably don't know all the details. There are probably better ways to get change to happen. Just because a law or rule is unjust doesn't mean you can ignore having been personally enjoined from disobeying it.

I do think bagging on his partner's looks isn't very nice. She obviously has taken care to ensure her face is free of hair, and nothing says trans women have to wear full makeup to look presentable. I've also seen many cis-women ignore thinning hair, etc.

[Guest KimberlyF]

The first op ed piece linked to this article: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/transgender-man-claims-discrimination-631663/

He's being investigated for bomb threats, and since when is GID any factor in grounds for granting Social Security Disability? I agree something seems a little off. At the least, the whole thing suggests he isn't very stable, and we probably don't know all the details. There are probably better ways to get change to happen. Just because a law or rule is unjust doesn't mean you can ignore having been personally enjoined from disobeying it.

I do think bagging on his partner's looks isn't very nice. She obviously has taken care to ensure her face is free of hair, and nothing says trans women have to wear full makeup to look presentable. I've also seen many cis-women ignore thinning hair, etc.

If you check the date on that, it's an old story. There were no charges. He was tossed from the school and continued to go into the bathrooms and showers after. The police filed a few charges against him and he pled guilty to one. There were the charges that were filed in the city of Pitt against the college last April that are mentioned in your link. They went nowhere either. Now the couple are trying their luck in the federal courts.