Washington Post: Not Letting People Use Whichever Bathroom They Want Is “Dehumanizing”

The Bathroom Wars have shifted to the Washington Post today, with writer Victoria St. Martin focusing on one gender confused person

For local transgender teen, national debate on restrooms is just a start

There was the name change. The lost friendships. And the friends who kept using the wrong pronoun. Cayden McDonald, who came out in a Facebook post as transgender in April 2012, would gently remind them that he is a “he” now.

But of all the awkward adjustments and ambiguity that surround the 18-year-old’s transition, one of the most delicate has been which restroom to use.

The way the Woodbridge teen sees it, it is ridiculous to demand that he use the women’s bathroom. “I walk in, and a woman sees me, and they’re going to be hella confused,” McDonald said.

But, Cayden apparently doesn’t look male enough to use the men’s room. But, really, for the most part, men aren’t going to give a damn who walks in. Just don’t get upset if we leave the seat up. And, if you have to sit to pee? You’re a woman.

On one hand, McDonald thinks it is absurd that people are fixated on the bathroom habits of others. But he also understands that this could be an important milestone for trans rights. To him, not letting him use the bathroom of his choice is “dehumanizing.”

Dehumanizing. So, just remember that when you need to use the bathroom, and can’t wait for your biological sex bathroom to be free. Just use whichever one you want, and if someone complains, tell them they are being dehumanizing, and say you’ll call the ACLU and other interest groups.

McDonald’s journey to living as an openly trans teen began in his early teens, after he watched a series of YouTube videos of people coming out. He saw a video of a teen coming out as transgender — and a lightbulb went off.

“I was like, ‘This is what I’ve been feeling for so long.’ ” he said. “I didn’t know there were things you could do about it. So I was like, ‘I like this, this is how I feel, I’m gonna tell people,’ and I did.”

And people wonder why so many think this whole thing is a mental illness. Watching a video makes a person think they are the opposite biological gender?

He admits that his online announcement — which went something like, “This is who I am, you’re going to deal with it or don’t talk to me” — may have been unnecessarily harsh.

Which highlights another aspect: the Demand for acceptance, rather than working to convince people and bring them to your side. These in your face attitudes will always cause a backlash. And, really, the concern is not so much the tiny number of gender confused people, which some estimate at just .3% of the population, it’s people taking advantage of this to enter the ladies room and invade the privacy of women and girls. Yes, that is a misogynist attitude, but, most men couldn’t care less who enters the men’s room. One of the folks in the comments puts in well

That someone’s ever changing identity crisis is so tied to where they relieve themselves points to the simple mindedness of this whole movement (no pun). If you wish to dress as a woman then do so but don’t impose your self centered desire for everyone to ignore this obvious unbalanced behavior by making women and children feel threatened. It is so ridiculous the WAPO and the rest of the media pander to this group of selfish, egotistical, immature individuals.

Why is it that the comfort of the tiny number gender confused should trump the comfort of everyone else?

Guest Post by William Teach of Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

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