Scott Turner Schofield Drops Some Bathroom Knowledge

One of the many people I met during my Fantasia Fair experience last year was actor Scott Turner Schofield.  He is one cool guy, and I loved his one man show Debutante Balls that he performed for us during #FF15 you've got to see.

Scott is also from North Carolina, and like everyone else who calls the Tarheel State home, is not happy about the passage of HB2, the transphobia it is fueling there and nationwide, and the economic damage it is wreaking on his home state.

Scott posted a commentary on his Facebook page that must be signal boosted. It's short, sweet and to the point about the potty panic the conservative movement has been using to demonize trans people and attack everyone's human rights and you ignorati are falling for it..

Now it's time to flush some transphobia.   Here's Scott's commentary

Dear Men & Other People Who Grew Up Using the Men's Room:

Have you ever seen a penis in the restroom? Besides accidentally (or purposefully!) casting a sideways glance at the urinal? Is it a common practice for people to wander around with their genitals hanging out?

Because I've been using the men's room for 10 years, and I've never seen so much as a pubic hair (other than on the seat).

So tell me: why are you all so scared of a woman who formerly had or currently has a penis using the women's room? They have not been trained to whip it out and walk around, even as children. And living with all the shame society spreads on us for being transgender makes all of us cover and hide our bodies in ways you can't even imagine.

Please chill the hell out. Just because we are Trans does not make us animals. We don't want your kids seeing our parts anymore than you do - and we never, ever have.

Please share to all people who are still wrapping their heads around this. Your fears are not facts. And "perverts in bathrooms" have never been legal - but we didn't get all bigoted against America's arguably most persecuted minority to prove it.

Love,
Scott Turner Schofield

DC Security Guard Charged With Assault After Playing Potty Police

I've been expressing my concerns that all this negative anti-trans hatred being put in the atmosphere by the Republican Party and the conservafool movement would eventually start having negative consequences for cis and trans women.

Yesterday that played out in Washington DC when a security guard took it upon herself to play potty police and forced trans woman Ebony Belcher out of the restroom of a Giant Foods store in NE DC.

The 32 year old Belcher was at the store on 3rd and H Streets to pick up a Western Union delivery with a friend and asked a store employee to point her to the restroom.  She passed the security guard while en route to it, and said the security guard entered the restroom making derogatory comments while telling her to get out.

The security officer then grabbed her by the shoulder and arm and shoved her out of the store.. Belcher alleges the guard said, "You guys cannot keep coming in here to use our women's restroom.  They did not pass the law yet."

Wrong, boo boo kitty. The human rights of trans people in the District of Columbia have been covered and protected under the DC Human Rights Law since 2006.

Giant has issued a press statement:

"As this matter involves a third party that provides security services for Giant and there's an ongoing criminal investigation, all inquiries related to the incident at the H Street Giant should be directed to the local police for a comment at this time."

The unidentified guard in question was arrested and charged with simple assault.  We'll see how this plays out in court..  

TransGriot Update:  The security guard busted for her transphobic crime is 45 year old Francine Bernice Jones according to a Washington Blade report by Lou Chibbaro,Jr.  After spending the night in jail was released by Superior Court Judge Renee Raymond on personal recognizance pending a July 21 status hearing. 

Who's The Real Danger To Society?

So tell me Republicans and all you enablers making excuses for these anti-trans laws?

Who are the real danger to society?   Survey says it's you 'christian' white male Republicans who are the dangers to women in bathrooms, schools and churches.

Think I'm kidding about that?  There was the glaring example in Houston of a youth minister Chad Foster, who is now doing five years in prison for sexual assault and online solicitation of a minor. .

There also the example of the former music director of a Christian radio station in Ohio taking the laying on of hands to another perverted level. and he wasn't in drag when he did so.

So nope, the evidence clearly shows it is white male Republicans who are the real danger to society, and not the trans women they demonized for their nefarious political purposes.

And we're more than a little sick of that in TransWorld..

The Fight To Keep HERO-September 11

Another question for you HERO haters.

You have been beating the bathroom issue into the ground because you refuse to have a rational discussion about the merits of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance because you know you'll lose if that happens.

That's why we've had, helped by the collusion of lazy Houston media stenographers (they don't deserve to be called journalists) an overdose since last year of right wing fear and smear anti-HERO tactics centered on the potty.

So as tired as I and Houston Trans World is (and trans peeps around the country) of the debunked bathroom issue and you cis people's obsession over what genitalia is between our legs, I'm going to post on it for the last time in this run to the November 3 election.

I keep hearing this line being thrown out by the HERO haters about people needing to use the bathroom based on their genitalia.  But the reality these days is that genitalia does not equal to gender identity or outward gender presentation.

So here goes with my question: Do you HERO haters wish to require that people use the bathroom based on their genitalia?  

You may wish to think long and hard about this question before you answer it.

If your answer is yes, then you would be forcing trans masculine guys like Sgt. Shane Ortega to go to the bathroom with your wives, nieces and daughters.

So the next time you start insultingly calling trans women 'men,' because you willfully refuse to accept their lived experiences and their lives, better consider the fact that trans masculine people exist, and in your zeal to keep 'men out of the women's restrooms', you'll be karmically setting up the exact scenario you've been using to demonize trans feminine people with and scaremonger about in this HERO debate.

And we'll be laughing our azzes off about it.

Trans people have been using the restrooms that correspond to our gender presentation for five decades without incident.

So no, we are not going to meekly accept or be forced by the tyranny of the majority to potentially be placed in dangerous situations for us to use a restroom that doesn't correspond to our outward appearance based on a right wing lie.

We are tired of being dehumanized by people who have no clue about what we deal with, refuse to educate themselves about trans people, or sit in smug faux faith based judgment of our lives

Bottom line is we need to poop and pee just like everyone else on Planet Earth. . If you're looking to stop those predators you're so concerned about, start in your own homes, neighborhoods or churches

And besides, a law already exists to punish peeps who enter restrooms to commit crimes.  It's Section 28.20 in the Houston City Code of Ordinances and it's still very much in effect.  You commit a crime in a Houston bathroom, you're still going to jail and getting prosecuted for it.

Our HERO opponents have yet to (and will not be able to) produce any police report from now and over the last five decades that backs up the lie they have been gleefully spreading about trans people for the last year

We are the prey, not the predator. We have had 19 transwomen killed in 2015 because of anti-trans violence in the US this year.  Trans people face 26% unemployment.because of the anti-trans hatred stirred up by FOX Noise, sellout kneegrow ministers, conservative activists and the GOP.

If transpeople like Sgt Shane Ortega and the 15,000 others in our armed forces are good enough to fight and die in America's military, then we are good enough to have our human rights respected and protected.

We are tired of being harassed by non-trans people based on a debunked right wing spin line when we poop and pee.   We go to the bathroom for the same reasons you do, to handle a natural bodily function, and you need to Houston media stop lying about it.  .  

Trans people are part of the diverse mosaic of human life on Planet Earth, and we're tired of waiting on you cis peeps to recognize that.

That's why I and every reality based Houston area trans person who is registered to vote and our allies will be voting YES on Proposition 1 to keep the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

I Repeat: Transpeeps Wish To Pee In Peace

Once again, just a friendly TransGriot reminder of why we trans folks have to go to a bathroom that matches our outward gender presentation.  

To answer nature's call.  

.Trans people, just like you cis people have to eliminate bodily wastes either by peeing, pooping or a combination of both.  Once we are done we flush the toilet, wipe the seat, wash our hands, check our appearance on the trans feminine end and go.

We are not the predators as the Duggar family and other hypocritical conservafools projecting their sexual fantasies and proclivities accuse us of being, we are the prey.

It's why we transpeeps want to go in the bathroom, handle our business, and get out with no fuss, no muss and no drama and have been doing so ever since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the plane in 1953.  We are in there to handle a natural bodily function, not to get a date or prey upon your wives and kids.  

That would be your ministers, some male relative or family friend of yours.   They also as Josh Duggar and others have proved overwhelmingly tend to be right wing Christian white males, and you have to be far more concerned with them being around your wives, female relatives and kids than the average trans woman.

I'm just sayin'.   Now where's my unsweetened tea?.

The point I'm making is that the trans predator myth is a debunked lie, and anyone trying to pimp it deserves you either laughing in their face, calling their lying azzes out or you giving them the side eye.

If you see any trans women in your bathrooms, they are more likely to be hogging the mirrors and complimenting your wives and children, even if you wish to irrationally hate on them because FOX Noise and some right wing minister pushing an agenda told you so.

I repeat.  Let my people pee in peace.

Stop Cosigning The Opposition Lies, HERO Defenders

While I was at the Hilton Americas Hotel`s Skyline Ballroom for the rollout of the Houston Unites campaign to defend it, one thing happened at the end of the press event that really pissed me off in terms of a reporter ignorantly asking the bathroom question again and our side wasting valuable air time answering it.

The question I have for the Houston Unites folks is when are you going to stop giving credence to a right-wing meme that needs to die?

As I learned when I went through GLAAD media training three years ago, just because a reporter asks you a question doesn't obligate you to answer it.

We aren't obligated to use our precious air time answering a question that we know is a fear and smear lie, so why dignify it with an answer?.  And I believe it is a mistake to continue to give validity to a anti-trans bathroom predator meme that we know and repeated studies tell us is a lie, but elements of the Houston media (FOX 26) seem to be stuck on stupid about.

So my proposal about how to handle the issue is this:  don`t answer a question that we know is a anti-HERO talking point.   If the media member asks that damned bathroom question, immediately pivot off of it and go straight to our pro-HERO talking points.

And here`s an example of what I`m talking about:

Question from media:  Won`t the HERO allow men dressed as women to go into women`s restrooms?

Answer from us:  Why aren`t you asking me about how the HERO will benefit the 15 classes of Houstonians that are protected in this much needed ordinance with a local remedy for combating discrimination that unfortunately happens in our city?

That`s the conversation we should be having.

Houston didn`t have a local ordinance to address discrimination until HERO was passed last year.  It sends a loud and clear message we Houstonians welcome all who wish to move and live here, do business with our city, and cements our growing international reputation as a diverse, welcoming place.

***

That`s how that question should have been answered, and there will probably be others we come up with over the next few months.

And next time, don`t send someone to me to condescendingly talk about  polling stating we need to acknowledge the fear and the lie that is stoking that fear.  I saw that data, and it's time to try a new tactic of just saying no to cosigning right wing fear and smear and calling it out for the lie it is. 

I`m part of the Houston trans community they have been demonizing ever since this Houston human rights battle started and we're tired of hearing 'we need to acknowledge the fear'..

How about acknowledging the fact that now 13 transpeople have been killed because of anti-trans lies like this and the fear we trans people have of somebody in the Houston area joining that list this year because of the anti-trans hate that is about to be unleashed by the opposition? 

How about acknowledging the humanity of trans people and noting we live in the H-town city limits, too?   We`re not only tired of it, we need our allies to be just as bold in calling out the lie as the hatemongers are in telling it.

I repeat:  No we do not have to answer that bathroom meme question . It is a demonstrably false right wing talking point being used across the country by our opponents, it`s the only card they can play, and let me say it once more with feeling, IT IS A LIE..

We have the facts on our side in this HERO fight.  Fair minded Houstonians are with us. .All the out of town haters meddling in Houston human rights business have is GOP support and fear.  

We should not let their fear damage our economy and cause us to lose the Super Bowl , NCAA Final Four rand future corporate relocations.

So let`s have the courage on our side to call out the bathroom meme for what it is, a lie and a scare tactic from out of town  suburban professional gaybaiters who don`t care about our beautiful diverse international city,

We Had An Attempted Bathroom Assault At UHD....

And thanks to timely assistance by a UHD professor, it ended before it became far worse.   And ammosexuals, it didn't require the use of a gun to stop it.

Professor Frank Vela  heard a female student screaming after a man with a knife followed her into the restroom.  The perpetrator was tackled by Professor Vela and held down until UHD police arrived to arrest the perp and cart his azz off to jail.

And naw, Dave Wilson, Dave Welch, Debbie Riddle, Max Miller, FOX Noise 26 and 'errbody' else pimping that discredited anti-trans bathroom predator lie, the perp wasn't trans* or a man in a dress.  




The perp in question  shared your ethnic background.  His name is 35 year old Daniel Griffing, and appeared before a judge yesterday.   It wasn't his first time in the criminal justice rodeo or committing the crime of sexual assault. Griffing was convicted in 2000 of sexually assaulting a small boy and was sentenced to 15 years in state prison. 

He's being held in the Harris County Jail without bond.

This is also a textbook case of what we in Trans World and our allies have been trying to point out every time the Right Wing Noise Machine deploys the demonstrably false bathroom predator lie they use every time to attack any human rights law that attempts to cover the transgender community.

And yeah, we trans women are just as concerned about people like this running loose in H-town and elsewhere in the state and country.because far too often, trans women are the prey, just like our cis sisters are.

If a man wants to get into a women's bathroom to commit the crime of sexual assault, just like Griffing. he isn't going to waste time getting in drag to do it.

Falsely demonizing and attempting to criminalize the lives of trans people isn't the way to stop sexual assaults.  So it's past time media peeps and the rest of you folks who need to 'ejumacate' yourselves about trans lives need to buy a vowel and get a clue that people like Griffing are your perps you need to be concerned about.

Not the trans woman who is simply trying to live her life to the best of her ability, and just needs to pee in the bathroom without being harassed about it.

Exposed: What Trans People Do In The Bathroom

Since some of you are still irrationally believing the debunked right wing lies about what we trans people actually do in the bathroom, and some of you media peeps are complicit in spreading them, once again  I find it necessary to waste bandwith having to reiterate step by step what happens when we trans people  walk into any public restroom situation.

As a TransGriot public service, I present a step by step guide to what trans people actually do in any public restroom.

What Trans People Do In The Bathroom

1:   Enter bathroom
2:   Find empty stall, enter and lock door
3:   Check toilet seat for residual poop or pee, wipe off if detected.

4:   Pull clothes down in preparation to expel waste products
5:   Sit down on toilet seat
6:   Poop or pee until finished
7:   Wipe buns
8:    Flush toilet if a manual one
9:    Get up, readjust clothes, unlock stall door
10:  Head to sink to wash hands
11.  If a trans feminine person, check makeup and appearance.
12.  Exit bathroom

Now, does that sound like something that we should spend a year in jail and pay fines for?

Let my people pee and poop in peace, and stop trying to criminalize our need to handle natural body functions should they happen in public spaces for your own personal gain.

Neither are we trans peeps and our allies going to sit quietly and accept being oppressed simply because you want to satisfy some deep seated  need to oppress somebody to score political points with your Teabagging base.

What Transwomen Do In The Bathroom

-

There have been a lot of lies told by our HERO opponents over the last few months concerning what trans women do in the restrooms besides handle our bodily functions and wash our hands when we're done relieving ourselves.

So what do we do in the bathroom?   Poop, piss, and after we wash our hands primp.  The meetings we have in the ladies room are making sure we look fly when we step out of it. 

Damned sure ain't what the lying professional trans haters accuse us of doing, and we're beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of hearing that lie repeated in the the media and elsewhere.. 

The predator meme has been debunked, and the Houston media (along with their cohorts in the rest of the country) needs to stop repeating the demonstrably false talking points of King Hater Dave Welch and company. 

And yeah Majic 102, it's past time for you to balance the journalistic scales and have HERO supporters on Sunday Morning Live.

Houston Style Magazine, Stop Pimping The HERO Bathroom Lie

One of the things that has really pissed me and Team HERO off about this battle to pass the now week old Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is how the elements of the Houston media are still stuck on stupid in continuing to deploy the bathroom meme.

The latest demonstration of facts free Houston media stenography concerning the HERO comes from Houston Style magazine.   It's a local African-American oriented publication that's available on newsstands in predominately Black H-town neighborhoods.and has a Facebook presence.

I was angered along with Team HERO to see Houston Style post this grossly inaccurate June 2 commentary on the HERO on their Facebook page that made it all about the bathroom and once again poured gasoline on the lie injected into this HERO debate by the Daves and the Black auxiliary ministerial sellouts about the damned bathrooms.

The push to pass the HERO started because of the discrimination experienced by a straight Black woman who is a sitting judge (Alexandra Smoots Hogan) at a Washington Ave nightspot.  She discovered along with Councilmember Ellen Cohen there was no way to address that type of discrimination locally unless you filed a federal lawsuit.  . .



Houston Style, it is irresponsible stenography like this (it doesn't deserve to be called reporting) that leads to anti-trans hatred and attacks upon trans African-Americans.

Here's a crash course in Trans 101 that you sorely need.  You also need to remember that some of the trans people you are dissing have melanin in their skin and African heritage.

As one of those proud Black trans Houstonians who fought for passage of the HERO and is a leader in the African-American trans community locally and nationally, I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of the anti-trans hatred and ignorance being trafficked in our community and our media outlets.    

You should be ashamed of yourselves, Houston Style magazine for perpetuating the debunked transphobic lies of longtime gay baiters Dave Wilson and Dave Welch.   I'm sure the Daves, the Republican Party and their Baptist Ministers of Houston and Vicinity sellouts are pleased you continued the perpetration of disinformation about a long needed ordinance that protects the human rights of ALL Houstonians, not just those of us in the trans, SGL and Bi community.



I'd demand a retraction and apology, but I'd probably have better odds of seeing the Astros, Texans, Rockets, Dynamo and Dash all win championships in the same year than seeing you post an apology for this transbaiting piece. 

How about you do the Houston African-American community a huge favor by doing your jobs and actually printing the facts about the HERO instead of the 'fear and smear' talking points of the opposition?


TransGriot Update: A retraction was made for the problematic bathroom lie  comments I was lambasting in this post.

Tired Of Black TBLG Women Getting Harassed For Going To The Bathroom

Had a nice conversation with Andraya Williams Saturday in which she reminded me we'd met when I was in Charlotte in 2012 to deliver the keynote speech for the TransFaith In Color conference. 

The subject then turned to the battle she and her attorney Sarah Demarest are currently fighting with Central Piedmont Community College.

Appears as though the CPCC peeps seem to think that if they keep stonewalling instead of coming to grips with the fact they have seriously screwed up by disrespecting Andraya and resolving the matter, this will all go away.

Umm hmm, keep thinking that.   The more you stonewall, the more you piss people off to where this will escalate into you having to deal with your transphobic sins in federal court and probably paying for them.





The well attended protest that occurred Friday should have been a wake up call, so CPCC, I would urge you to expeditiously apologize to Ms.Williams,discipline the security officers involved, get busy enacting non discrimination policies that cover sexual orientation and gender identity, and create some clearly marked and designated gender neutral bathrooms.

You can either do that now or pay Ms. Williams much more in cash later.
 
One of the things I told Andraya was she isn't the first transwoman to face anti-trans harassment over the bathroom, and sadly won't be the last one. I pointed out this crap happened to Tyjanae Moore in 2010 at the Houston Public Library downtown location instigated just like in her case, by a transphobic security guard.   Another incident happened to a transgender UHD student last year that led to gender neutral bathrooms being established on their campus.. 

But there have been far too many of these incidents aimed at Black trans, SGL and gender variant women.  There was Khadijah Farmer's 2007 case in New York against the Caliente Cab restaurant.   
No sooner had the ink dried on the settlement agreement in the Farmer case we were hearing about producer Tanya White being thrown out of the posh Beverly Hills Hotel and disrespectfully being called 'it' in September 2007 for using the ladies room while attending a party at the hotel for actress LisaRaye McCoy.

In Arkansas Kaye Bowens was fired from her job because somebody had a problem with her using the ladies room. 

Bottom line is we transwomen of all ethnic backgrounds are beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of being harassed and in some cases violently confronted by cis people just for going to the damn bathroom. 

We've got to poop and piss too, so let my trans people do that in peace, will you?  Or is your need to bully and oppress somebody that deep seated?  

Y'all also need to stop believing the 'bathroom predator' woof tickets the right wing is selling you peeps because they have no logic and reason based argument to justify their opposition to trans human rights laws.        

All that I or any transwoman does when we go potty is the same thing you do.  Poop, piss and wash our hands when we're done.   We don't need your harassment aimed at us because you have insecurities you haven't dealt with yet and you want to feel like Mr. Big Cis Man or Ms. Big Cis Woman by messing with us. 
  

Safe Bathrooms DC To Launch Today

As you've noticed, with all the 'bathroom predator' lies and shade throw by TERF and our right wing opponents in their morally bankrupt attempts to stop trans inclusive laws and hate on us, it has had the result of causing more drama for trans people of color when we simply go to the bathroom to relieve ourselves as the Andraya Williams case is the most recent example of.

Later this evening at Casa Ruby LGBT Community will be launching in conjunction with the DC Office of Human Rights the Safe Bathrooms DC campaign in order to remind everyone in the District that single stall restrooms must be gender neutral by law.

Public bathrooms are never enjoyable, but for transgender people and many others, using a public bathroom can be a highly stressful and even dangerous experience. In the District of Columbia, we are attempting to reduce that stress by making every single-stall public bathroom in the District gender-neutral. It’s the law, but currently many businesses are unaware of the requirement, and we need your help to let them know. Join us on Thursday, April 3, 2014 to find out what you can do, and to see the unveiling of our new ads.

For those of you who live in the District and wish to attend, the kickoff event with free food starts at 5:30 PM EDT at Casa Ruby, located at 2822 Georgia Av, NW.   RSVP isn't required but would be appreciated and I know they will be happy to see you there for the launch of the #safebathroomsDC campaign..
 

Charlotte Trans College Student Harassed, Detained For Using The Bathroom

While I was busy focusing on a developing situation on the WSSU campus in Winston-Salem, just down the road in Charlotte more TBLG injustice has been brewing on the campus of Central Piedmont Community College.

Meet Andraya Williams.  She's a 22 year old student at Central Piedmont Community College who is handling her academic business there.  She has been transitioning since age 18 and started the medical part of it two years ago.  

On March 18 she was exiting the women's restroom and according to an article by QNotes Matt Comer ran into transphobic security officers who detained, disrespected her, informed her she was suspended and escorted her off campus.

CPCC does not have a non-discrimination policy that covers sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and Williams and her attorney Sarah Demarest of Charlotte’s LGBTQ Law Center have been trying to resolve the issue since then in the face of intransigent stonewalling by CPCC officials.

“CPCC’s decision to apprehend [Ms. Williams] in the restroom was based on their visual assessment of her gender,” said Demarest in the QNotes interview. “While CPCC is allowed to maintain sex-segregated facilities for male and female students, they decided that Ms. Williams fell outside both categories and treated her differently than other students. Furthermore, the differential treatment occurred in front of other students, highlighting to her peers that she does not conform to gender stereotypes and outing her as transgender.”

Now that this campus transphobia story is getting national and international attention, Central Piedmont Community College comes out with a statement from CPCC Public Information Officer Jeff Lowrance claiming they are trying to 'balance the rights of transgender students with the rights of the rest of the student body.'  

Since when CPCC?   Don't even try to tell that lie. You have no policies that protect the rights of trans, SGL and gender variant students and were in no hurry to enact them until your campus security got caught harassing and disrespecting an African-American trans student. 


Demarest said to QNotes that CPCC needs to review their polices and practices immediately, and I concur with that assessment.

“There are many transgender students who need to know what their rights are and need to know how it is they are supposed to navigate this issue,” said Demarest. “The way CPCC has handled this situation was inadequate and allowed [Williams] to be humiliated and feeling like she was without recourse.”

Demarest also pointed out the school violated her client’s due process rights, CPCC’s actions were unlawful and constitute a violation of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities.   Federal courts, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, she says, have held that unlawful sex discrimination extends to gender stereotyping.

The 2011 Glenn v. Brumby case found that discriminating against someone based on their gender nonconformity is sex based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause 

discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her gender non-conformity constitutes sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. - See more at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1587416.html#sthash.RXe6VMwF.dpuf

discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her gender non-conformity constitutes sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. - See more at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1587416.html#sthash.RXe6VMwF.dpuf

Williams and Demarest are considering filing a federal civil rights complaint and I hope they do.  I and other trans people of color are sick and tired of being jacked with for going to the bathroom..   

There is a protest being organized by CPCC students outraged over this incident in support of Andraya that will take place Friday, April 4 starting at 11 AM EDT.

We will be holding a protest in response to the treatment of our fellow CPCC student Andraya Williams, who on March 19, was harassed, detained and eventually suspended and denied due process because CPCC staff is insufficiently educated on transgender inclusion. We are protesting to show that intolerance and the violation of student rights is not something we as students believe should be part of our school's values. We welcome community members and other allies to join us to show that we stand behind Andraya Williams and all transgender students at CPCC.

It will take place on the corner of Elizabeth and Kings Streets if you wish to attend.

Will be keeping an eye on this situation as well.

Arkansas Transwoman Fired For Using Correct Bathroom

If you wonder why I go ballistic every time I hear people who don't share my ethnic background ignorantly stating public accommodations language is not important when it comes to protecting the human rights of trans people, I call bull feces on that.

If you're a non-white transperson, that public accommodations language is critical, especially since we seem to find ourselves in situations far more frequently in which discrimination is aimed at us based on our ethnicity and our trans status..  

Meet 21 year old Kaye Bowens, a girl like us living in Star City, Arkansas.   It is a town 75 miles SSE of Little Rock and Bowers until recently was an employee at a local McDonald's.   

Bowens made it clear when she was hired in December that she was trans and had begun her transition three years ago..  She used the bathroom appropriate to her outward gender presentation and had no trans status related job problems until two weeks ago.  

Obviously either a coworker or somebody in the area had a transphobic problem with her and complained.   Bowens found herself being confronted in the women's restroom by the store's shift manager who told her she should be using the men's room.    

The very next day she was called into the general manager's office and terminated.   When she threatened to file a lawsuit over the obvious gender discrimination,  she was offered her job back later that day provided she agreed to the dehumanizing demand of using the men's restroom. 

Bowens description of the events was corroborated by two fellow employees who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution. 

If I'm a good worker for you, what does it matter where I use the restroom?" said Bowens. 

Bowens has now filed an EEOC discrimination complaint against the Mickey D's in question to which Michael Retzer, the owner of the McDonald's franchise in Star City issued the following statement on Wednesday:

“We believe in the value of a diverse workforce, equal opportunity and a workplace free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment.  As such, we continue to do our best to meet the needs of our employees and customers, and we are reviewing this situation carefully. It is important for us to share that the employee in question is a current employee and has not been terminated. We have asked the employee to discuss this issue with us, but we have not received a response.”

Yeah, right.  Now that your rumps are in the legal wringer, and you have made national and international news for your transphobic bigotry, now you wanna talk. 

Here's hoping the situation does end in a satisfactory conclusion for Ms. Bowens. 

This is also another concrete example of why the federal ENDA law needs to be passed ASAP and the gender identity language needs to stay in it.  

Anti-Trans Human Rights Conservalies Debunked

I've known for years the anti-trans human rights talking points of the conservafools and their TERF allies are a lie, but Media Matters has put them in this nice big easy to read graphic debunking the lies..

It'll be quite handy to show to my city councilmembers when we finally make the big push to get our non-discrimination ordinance in Houston. 

Unjust Arizona Bathroom Bill Dead For This Session

For my trans brothers and sisters who live in or are traveling through or into the state of Arizona for business or pleasure, you'll be happy to know that the act of pooping our pissing in the gender correct bathroom will not make you a criminal in the state. 

The unjust bathroom bill that GOP oppressor Rep. Jon Kavanagh filed that originally called for making it a Class 1 misdemeanor offense punishable by six months in jail and a $2,500 fine to use a public toilet, bathroom, shower, bath, dressing room or changing room associated with a gender other than what is on one's birth certificate has died for this session.

After a wave of international outrage, negative publicity and pushback from Arizona trans residents and the national trans community, Kavanagh modified his original draconian bill to shield businesses from civil or criminal liability if they ban people from restrooms that don’t match their birth gender.

According to Kavanagh there's concern in the GOP caucus about the unjust bill's definitions, so it will have to be shelved until next year.

Here's a suggestion Jon.  How about you drop the idea period and save you, your party and the state of Arizona further embarrassment and get thee to a psychologist to deal with that deep seated hatred you have for trans people?

Thank You, NY Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell!

I mentioned GENDA passed the NY state General Assembly for the sixth straight time, and now the fun part begins of getting it through the Republican controlled NY state Senate.

While it was pending in the assembly the GENDA opponents had nothing to throw at it but the 'bathroom meme', and here's Assemblyman  Daniel O'Donnell properly eviscerating it.

Thank you Assemblyman O'Donnell for standing up for the human rights of trans New Yorkers.

TLC's Masen Davis Discusses Unjust Arizona Transphobic Bill

Transpeople have been using gender appropriate public restrooms for six decades.  But because the trans human rights movement has been successful over the last few years passing laws and the Forces of Intolerance have no justifiable reason to oppose them, the right wingers and their radical feminist allies have gone to a tactic straight from the segregationist playbook in terms of 'fear and smear' over the bathroom.

Arizona Republifool legislator John Kavanagh has taken it to the extreme by proposing a draconian unjust 'Your Papers Before You Potty' bill.    Transgender Law Center Executive Director Masen Davis discusses it on MSNBC.

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Unjust 'Your Trans Papers To Pee' SB 1432 Bill Filed In Arizona

When I spoke at the University of Arizona last year, I had a wonderful time visiting the state, chatting and having lunch with Antonia D'orsay, dinner with Dr. Susan Stryker, and interacting with the students, faculty and people in the Gallagher Theater audience during my speech.

When I was transiting the Phoenix and Tucson airports entering and leaving the state, eating lunch and dinner at the two restaurants I dined at in Tucson, and just before I took the stage for my speech in the Gallagher Theater I committed an act several times during that visit that would have gotten me arrested or harassed had an unjust bill that is now being proposed been in effect at that time.

I used the gender appropriate public restroom..

In the right wing (and trans exclusionary rad fem) zeal to grasp at anything to frack with the human rights of transpeople that they know they have no logic based reason or excuse to oppose, they have seized upon a tactic from the old white supremacist segregationist playbook and are trying to 'scurr' up opposition to transpeople by pimping the bathroom meme.

In the wake of Phoenix passing last month and preparing to implement a trans human rights law with public accommodations protections, the Forces of Intolerance in Arizona struck back. 

Republican John Kavanagh (surprise, surprise) penned SB 1432, an unjust bill that would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor offense punishable by six months in jail and a $2,500 fine to use a public toilet, bathroom, shower, bath, dressing room or changing room associated with a gender other than what is on one's birth certificate.

And y'all wanna know why I went off last year about the Massachusetts trans rights bill that doesn't have public accommodations language in it that they're trying to lobby to get added in now? 

Never mind the fact that two states, Idaho and Ohio will not let you change the gender markers period on your birth certificate, and others require gender reassignment surgery before they will do so.

While the unjust 'Your Trans Papers To Pee' bill was aimed at the transgender community, cisgender gay and straight folks who have ambiguous gender presentations would also find themselves caught up in this gender policing dragnet if SB 1432 passes the Republican-dominated Arizona legislature and gets Gov. Jan Brewer's (R) signature.

I'm concerned for my Arizona trans brothers and sisters about the increased harassment they will face from overzealous police officers and security guards, transphobic restroom patrons, passerbys and business owners if the unjust SB 1432 bill passes.

I'm also concerned about the trans people traveling into or through the state via its airports, by bus,  Amtrak trains, or driving Interstates 8, 10, 15, 17, 19 and 40 who would also be affected by this unjust bill and have to deal with that statewide cadre of  gender policing vigilantes.  These cisprivileged folks would have no problem reporting others to the po-po's who in their opinion don't measure up to their goalpost shifting standards of what a man or woman is supposed to look like.

I'm also concerned as a trans person of color that those unwanted interactions with POC transpeople and police could escalate to deadly levels.    

So Arizona TransGriot readers and allies, get busy helping our Arizona trans brothers and sisters defeat this unjust bill.   Here's some talking points on SB 1432 courtesy of my homegirl and proud Arizona resident Dyssonance to get you started.   

Let our people pee in peace.  And if they won't, time to consider having a few sit in's and pee in's protesting this unjust bill until they do.
   

Cis Women, You Can't Support Trans Women And Push The Bathroom Predator Meme

I've had a neutral opinion about Roseanne Barr over the years but that may be about to change in a negative direction.   She let fly with a series of transphobic tweets that makes me wonder if she went to Michfest this year. The transphobic Twitter exchange was driven by guess what, the bathroom issue.

Kola Boof stuck her nose in the middle of this transphobic Twitter mess and unleashed a series of problematic tweets in support of Roseanne.  

Note to Kola and 'errbody' else: You cannot call yourself a supporter of trans women and pimp the demonstrably false bathroom predator meme at the same time.   By doing so you, Roseanne and anyone else who pushes this meme is interpreted by trans women as you really don't respect us and our femininity.

It also causes trans women to question just how much of an ally to our community you really are. 

Don't even go there on the security issue as an excuse to peddle the transphobic bathroom meme, especially in light of the fact that an average of two transwomen a month die somewhere around the world due to anti-trans violence and that average is alarmingly rising.  

Trans women are beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of elements of you cis women reciting that tired meme so you can create a bogus excuse for yourself to denigrate, disrespect and oppress us to make yourselves feel superior and empowered. 


I and other transwomen are also beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of repeating this point.  If God forbid a rapist is going to attack a woman in the restroom, he is not going to waste time getting in drag to do so.  The rapist will simply walk into said restroom and do the criminal deed.

Trans women are women period.  Whatever issues you have with the male gender, take it up with da fellas and stop projecting it on us, okay?   Contrary to the misguided opinions pushed by the Barr-Boof tag team, trans women once we transition are not considered by cis men as part of their team anymore.

Medical science also increasingly pointing out when it comes to the structure of trans women's brains, we're similar to cis women between the ears.  We just have to work a little harder and spend some money to morph the rest of our bodies to match the brain gender ID.

I would rather be taking time to comment on other issues of importance to this community and finding ways to work in conjunction with my cis sisters rather than having to put y'all on blast for ignorantly pimping this meme that is disrespectful to us.  

Not only are we tired of the War on Transwomen and whyte radfem womyn gone wild, we're tired of the false presumption that trans women still have 'residual male privilege' that lead to elements of cis women still pearl clutching to the bathroom predator meme disrespecting and denigrating trans women.

This meme must die and needs to die now, especially since conservafool legislators around the world and radical feminist transphobes who have no other excuse to oppose trans human rights are seizing on this to attempt to stop trans human rights legislation we need.

For you cis women who constantly ask me how to best support trans women, here's a suggestion.  In addition to being loyal friends and supporters to us, another way can be to educate yourself on our issues and help us permanently eradicate the bathroom predator meme.  


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