SEPTA Proposing To Remove TransPass Gender Stickers Next Year

Been writing since 2008 about the ongoing problem that gender variant people in the Philadelphia area have had with the gender code stickers on SEPTA TransPasses.  

The Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) claims the stickers are on the passes to prevent cisgender heterosexual couples from sharing them but the unintended consequence of that policy according to a group called Riders Against Gender Exclusion (RAGE) has been that transgender and other gender variant people have been harassed by SEPTA personnel.

RAGE has been protesting the policy since 2009 and according to their Thursday press release:  

Riders whose gender expression does not match the sticker on their pass – for instance, transsexual men and women who are not living in one gender full-time, and genderqueer people who do not present themselves as distinctly male or female – have been harassed by drivers, outed as transgender to other riders putting their personal safety at risk, and have even had legitimate passes confiscated.

SEPTA General Manager Joe Casey is submitting a proposal to the  Board of Directors to remove the gender stickers from the monthly  TransPasses starting in late 2013.  

The action would also require public hearings that would take place in Spring 2013.   A report from a local Philadelphia television station claimed the SEPTA decision about the problematic gender stickers wasn't driven by RAGE activism around the issue 

Yeah, right.

Thanks to RAGE lobbying around the issue with supportive Philadelphia City Council members, a resolution was passed spearheaded by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown calling on SEPTA to end the gender sticker policy. 

“We thank SEPTA for doing the right thing,” said Max Ray. “New fare system delays may be unavoidable, but SEPTA realized that human rights can’t wait. I’m proud of the tremendous amount of work that the transgender community has put into this project and all we’ve accomplished during this campaign.”

This is a major win for the trans community in Philadelphia who will hopefully once the stickers are eliminated be able to ride public transit in the city in peace, safety and without being disrespected once the new gender sticker free passes are implemented.

Moni's Mass Transit Truisms

I don't mind riding mass transit to get me somewhere, but I've noted some things that seem to be universal about it no matter where you live.

1.  There will always be more buses or trains going in the opposite direction of which you are traveling while you impatiently await yours.

2.  You will have at least one person having a cell phone conversation that gives the whole bus or train too much damned information about their personal drama or salacious detail about their sex lives.

3.  That person having the TMDI conversation will almost always be sitting in the back of the bus.

4.  The farther in the back you sit on a bus, the lower the maturity level of the passenger.

5.  If you're trans, some fool will always try to pluck your last nerve when you have already had a less than pleasant day or aren't feeling well.

6. You will have some fool getting on the driver's last nerve and pissing them off while you are either enroute to where you need to go or on your way home.

7. There will always be at least one or more persons holding up progress in boarding the bus or train because they don't have their money ready, transfer or pass ready to show the driver or transit po-po's, or are fumbling with their luggage, stroller or bike despite sitting there with plenty of prep time to do so while waiting for the bus or train to arrive at their pick up stop.



8.  When you need to be somewhere at a certain time or are trying to catch a connecting bus or train, that is when your driver either needs to take a bathroom break, stops to get something to eat, or something else retards its progress toward your connection point.

9. When you just want peace and quiet on the trip, that is when you'll get some noisy kids, somebody playing their music too loud, a crying baby or other issue boarding at the next stop and they'll end up sitting fairly close to you..

10. If you're female, some scrub will sit right next to you and try to mack when you don't want that attention.


TransGriot Note: Feel free to add more in the comment thread....