Maine Human Rights Commission rules in favor of transgender girl

[ccharles000]

Last week the Maine Human Rights Commission ruled in favor of a transgender girl’s right to use the girls bathroom at school. Asa Adams School allowed the girl to use the restroom that matched her gender identity until a boy, who it seems was encouraged by his grandfather, harassed her and followed her into the bathroom. School officials then told the girl she had to use the single-stall faculty bathroom.

The state’s ruling corrects a decision that smacks of victim blaming - the girl was forced to use a separate bathroom on the other side of the school because she was the target of harassment. But this story also speaks to the larger problem of the prevalence of gender segregated restrooms. If students at the school (and their guardians) were not trained from a young age that people fit into one of two gender boxes, clearly represented by the places we pee, the girl’s bathroom use would not have been an issue, and her transgender identity would not be a reason to segregate her away from her fellow students.

http://community.feministing.com/2009/07/maine-human-rights-commission.html

[ccharles000]

1. kick

[vadawg]

2. sorry, are you wanting all bathrooms to be unisex,

screw that ive seen the queues for womens bathrooms at sporting events, no way im having that......

not sure i like the idea of gender neutral bathrooms at all.

[ccharles000]

3. not gender neutral but letting a female use the womens bathroom

[LisaL]

6. You quote someone who clearly suggests

that "gender segregated bathrooms" should be done away with.

[backscatter712]

5. What's wrong with letting a girl use the girl's bathroom?

Jesus, even on DU, we have dumbshits who are clueless about GLBT issues...

[tritsofme]

4. The prevalence of gender segregated restrooms?

I don't think I've read such phrasing outside of right-wing caricatures in many many years.