The action was held in response to the wave of transphobic attacks being launched by the federal government, who along with their reactionary allies across the country, are pressuring institutions from public schools to the military to stop recognizing and accepting trans folks. Part of this reactionary offensive revolves around restricting trans folks access to public bathrooms.
These transphobic bigots are spreading fear and misinformation about trans people. New laws and policies are being put in place that target the trans community’s ability to use bathrooms, which makes many trans people nervous to even take care of our basic needs for fear that we will be targeted, harassed, or assaulted.
Trans people have long been using public restrooms just like everyone else without incident. Most people have shared a public bathroom with a trans person, even if they didn’t know it. It is simply common sense for trans people to use the bathroom that best matches their identity.
In fact, improving access to public spaces is good for everyone, while policing bathrooms has resulted in elevated harassment in restrooms, including against cisgender women who might not fit gendered stereotypes. Anti-trans fearmongering harms anyone who doesn’t conform to narrow expectations about what a man or woman looks like.
Research shows there is no link between trans-inclusive bathrooms and crimes in bathrooms or locker rooms. Nondiscrimination laws protecting transgender people in these kinds of facilities have been around for a long time, with no increase in public safety incidents in restrooms or locker rooms. In fact, studies have found that discriminatory bathroom and locker room policies are associated with higher rates of other students assaulting trans youth. Gender justice and women’s rights organizations agree that bathroom bans only put transgender people - and anyone who doesn’t conform - at risk.
Banning transgender people from using facilities in alignment with their gender identity deprives them of the ability to participate in public life. Without the ability to use a public restroom, trans people are less able to live their lives and travel outside their home. Trans employees need to be able to use the restroom at work to keep their jobs without risking their health and safety. Trans people also need to be able to access government buildings for basic tasks like voting or visiting the post office.
Transgender people cannot safely use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth just because the law requires them to. Trans people are routinely subjected to harassment and assault in bathrooms. Sixty-eight percent of trans people have been verbally harassed and 9% have been physically assaulted when using a public restroom in the past 12 months. And sadly, 8% of trans people have faced a kidney or urinary tract infection from having to avoid restrooms for their safety. In addition to being discriminatory, bathroom bans are bad for our health!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the "shit-in". It was held as part of a series of trans solidarity actions that have been organized by the Northwoods Socialist Collective.
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