The bathroom ban was attached to the "College Credit Plus" program designed to help students enter dual enrolment, and is the first anti-trans law to pass after the 2024 elections.
They thought of that - there is a provision in the bill that explicitly states no existing restroom may be converted to gender neutral or all gender facilities and none may even be constructed going forward!
In 2016, I was a freshly transitioning trans man at a North Carolina college after HB2s passage. I remember what it was like. The first day I went into the men's room and was asked "are people like you supposed to be in here?" by a guy at the urinal. I was luckily never harassed, but the next time I went to the girls room and it was like a record scratch. They all looked at me and asked if I was lost. So I went back to the men's room. I wasn't there to make people uncomfortable, I just wanted to pee. I learned to wait until nobody was washing their hands in order to run out. I learned to keep my head down coming in.
Then Obama's DOJ sent out a call to trans people in the college system affected by the law as they litigated it. I met with the lawyers, who held my hand as I cried. "It makes me feel like my state thinks I'm a monster, a menace. That they don't want me."
I remember so distinctly one of the lawyers looking me in the eyes and saying "I want you to know that the president is on your side. The power of the united states government is here for you."
Say what you will about Obama, that was powerful stuff to hear. It kept me going. The government being for you or against you, we want to downplay it because it hurts, but it's huge. It means so much.
Now, the tables are reversed. NC is blue and the presidency is red. I only hope my state protects me.
Thank you for posting that, it's tragic that people are so unable to cope with this. It really is so silly, making a big deal out of taking a leak, but people have these hangups.
These bans should be ignored, they can't arrest everyone and when they do the world should know about it stream, report on it, make sure the media is notified , set up legal defense funds tell these Republicans bastards we are not going to take there abuse any more they wanted a war give them one.
Anyone who thinks they can't arrest all trans people needs to look back at 1994. The mass imprisonment of Black men then was more than double what would have been required to mass imprison all trans people, even approaching triple.
Better yet, embarrassing the institution on the world stage, look we have to take charge of this situation before that jackass takes office again, the way to do it is to show them that this small but defiant community is too much trouble to bother with, they have bigger fish we are just the ordures
Someone wrote "The first day I went into the men's room and was asked "are people like you supposed to be in here?" by a guy at the urinal. I was luckily never harassed." As a cis woman when I read that it so felt like you were harassed. One summer I shaved my head in solidarity with my sister going through chemo. I was on a road trip and used the women's rest room. I was dressed in a baseball cap, t-shirt and jean shorts. A woman came storming into the restroom with her hands on her hips shouting at me that men were not allowed in the women's room. I never responded back and continued to wash my hands. Another women responded well she is a woman. Now not an apology or anything. It raised my awareness what my transgender friends go through just to pee! Or the fear of being admitted to a hospital, urgent car or a new physician. We privileged people have no concept. I will do my all to raise awareness.
Thank you very much! Unfortunately, what I meant by I was never harassed is I was never physically harassed or made/asked to leave. I guess it's kind of sad that I have this idea of degrees, where it "wasn't so bad" for me, comparatively. But you're right - that doesn't mean it isn't harassment. The truth is, transphobia and these bathroom bills WILL make things harder for cis women. Gender presentation is not as easy to categorize as people think, and contrary to popular belief one can not always spot a trans person out of a crowd correctly. Women who do not fit neatly into the mold of perfectly feminine will get harassed, cis or trans. Thank you for being an ally. We appreciate people like you
You truly have a way of sharing your thoughts and I agree totally. I find myself so angry at the people who observe or witness and remain silent. Thank you for responding. I truly appreciate it.
I am so sad to live in Ohio. And I am exhausted from fighting losing battles for dignity and respect for trans folx with the Republican extremists at the Ohio Statehouse. It is heartbreaking that their first order of business was to attack trans folx. Shame on them.
Because 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 says "we're the party of small government" like telling private colleges who's not allowed to shit in their toilets!
Am I wrong in seeing the camel trying to get its nose in the tent, here? If the state is allowed to enforce this bathroom ban against privately owned and operated schools, then doesn't that establish precedent for the state to exert control over other aspects of private institutions' operations? Say, for instance, housing, scholarships, curricula... the contents of their libraries? End result, the state GQP effectively running (and ruining) all education, at any level, within the state, regardless of who actually owns any given school on paper?
I don't think you're wrong. I've thought for quite a while now that most if not all of this anti-trans crap wasn't itself the end goal, just the first step - one that's a relatively easy sell, an opening in the tent as you say - towards far more pervasive interference and control.
Maybe we should have an alumna pee party. I graduated from Ohio State University. I would be worth the trip back from Minnesota to gather en mass, cis and trans, alumna and students in every restroom at OSU.
They thought of that - there is a provision in the bill that explicitly states no existing restroom may be converted to gender neutral or all gender facilities and none may even be constructed going forward!
Yet their mandate is mixed gender bathrooms….. so I guess they have a law that specifically says you can’t abide by it. Sounds like an easy court case.
any sane judge would at least toss the private college aspect, but we don't live in a sane timeline.
I mean any sane judge would tell them to fuck off and they're violating all sorts of rights, but at a minimum the state has no business enacting or enforcing this on private property.
I look forward to the pearl-clutching when bearded, muscular trans men use the ladies' room. Or the absolute freak outs when cis dudes at the urinal see femme trans women in dresses walking in behind them.
In Oregon I am seeing more and more restrooms that are not gender specific. Or if they have gender specific they have one individual restroom with a lock.
They thought of that - there is a provision in the bill that explicitly states no existing restroom may be converted to gender neutral or all gender facilities and none may even be constructed going forward!
Antioch needs to convert every bathroom on campus to gender neutral and start the revolution. Let people pee in peace!
Interesting idea. That would definitely resolve this, make it simple. Boom. You're a genius.🙂
They thought of that - there is a provision in the bill that explicitly states no existing restroom may be converted to gender neutral or all gender facilities and none may even be constructed going forward!
Yup, you're right sadly. "3) No school shall construct, establish, or maintain a
multi-occupancy facility that is designated as nongendered,
multigendered, or open to all genders."
In 2016, I was a freshly transitioning trans man at a North Carolina college after HB2s passage. I remember what it was like. The first day I went into the men's room and was asked "are people like you supposed to be in here?" by a guy at the urinal. I was luckily never harassed, but the next time I went to the girls room and it was like a record scratch. They all looked at me and asked if I was lost. So I went back to the men's room. I wasn't there to make people uncomfortable, I just wanted to pee. I learned to wait until nobody was washing their hands in order to run out. I learned to keep my head down coming in.
Then Obama's DOJ sent out a call to trans people in the college system affected by the law as they litigated it. I met with the lawyers, who held my hand as I cried. "It makes me feel like my state thinks I'm a monster, a menace. That they don't want me."
I remember so distinctly one of the lawyers looking me in the eyes and saying "I want you to know that the president is on your side. The power of the united states government is here for you."
Say what you will about Obama, that was powerful stuff to hear. It kept me going. The government being for you or against you, we want to downplay it because it hurts, but it's huge. It means so much.
Now, the tables are reversed. NC is blue and the presidency is red. I only hope my state protects me.
Thank you for posting that, it's tragic that people are so unable to cope with this. It really is so silly, making a big deal out of taking a leak, but people have these hangups.
These bans should be ignored, they can't arrest everyone and when they do the world should know about it stream, report on it, make sure the media is notified , set up legal defense funds tell these Republicans bastards we are not going to take there abuse any more they wanted a war give them one.
Anyone who thinks they can't arrest all trans people needs to look back at 1994. The mass imprisonment of Black men then was more than double what would have been required to mass imprison all trans people, even approaching triple.
It is a useful tactic, potentially, to use civil disobedience. It'll definitely be interesting to see how it all plays out.
From what I can tell, there's no individual punishment, the liability is all on the institution.
Better yet, embarrassing the institution on the world stage, look we have to take charge of this situation before that jackass takes office again, the way to do it is to show them that this small but defiant community is too much trouble to bother with, they have bigger fish we are just the ordures
Someone wrote "The first day I went into the men's room and was asked "are people like you supposed to be in here?" by a guy at the urinal. I was luckily never harassed." As a cis woman when I read that it so felt like you were harassed. One summer I shaved my head in solidarity with my sister going through chemo. I was on a road trip and used the women's rest room. I was dressed in a baseball cap, t-shirt and jean shorts. A woman came storming into the restroom with her hands on her hips shouting at me that men were not allowed in the women's room. I never responded back and continued to wash my hands. Another women responded well she is a woman. Now not an apology or anything. It raised my awareness what my transgender friends go through just to pee! Or the fear of being admitted to a hospital, urgent car or a new physician. We privileged people have no concept. I will do my all to raise awareness.
Thank you very much! Unfortunately, what I meant by I was never harassed is I was never physically harassed or made/asked to leave. I guess it's kind of sad that I have this idea of degrees, where it "wasn't so bad" for me, comparatively. But you're right - that doesn't mean it isn't harassment. The truth is, transphobia and these bathroom bills WILL make things harder for cis women. Gender presentation is not as easy to categorize as people think, and contrary to popular belief one can not always spot a trans person out of a crowd correctly. Women who do not fit neatly into the mold of perfectly feminine will get harassed, cis or trans. Thank you for being an ally. We appreciate people like you
You truly have a way of sharing your thoughts and I agree totally. I find myself so angry at the people who observe or witness and remain silent. Thank you for responding. I truly appreciate it.
I am so sad to live in Ohio. And I am exhausted from fighting losing battles for dignity and respect for trans folx with the Republican extremists at the Ohio Statehouse. It is heartbreaking that their first order of business was to attack trans folx. Shame on them.
Because 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 says "we're the party of small government" like telling private colleges who's not allowed to shit in their toilets!
Am I wrong in seeing the camel trying to get its nose in the tent, here? If the state is allowed to enforce this bathroom ban against privately owned and operated schools, then doesn't that establish precedent for the state to exert control over other aspects of private institutions' operations? Say, for instance, housing, scholarships, curricula... the contents of their libraries? End result, the state GQP effectively running (and ruining) all education, at any level, within the state, regardless of who actually owns any given school on paper?
I don't think you're wrong. I've thought for quite a while now that most if not all of this anti-trans crap wasn't itself the end goal, just the first step - one that's a relatively easy sell, an opening in the tent as you say - towards far more pervasive interference and control.
Maybe we should have an alumna pee party. I graduated from Ohio State University. I would be worth the trip back from Minnesota to gather en mass, cis and trans, alumna and students in every restroom at OSU.
They should just make all bathrooms gender neutral if they are going to force men into women’s bathrooms and women into men’s. Problem solved.
They thought of that - there is a provision in the bill that explicitly states no existing restroom may be converted to gender neutral or all gender facilities and none may even be constructed going forward!
Yet their mandate is mixed gender bathrooms….. so I guess they have a law that specifically says you can’t abide by it. Sounds like an easy court case.
And so it begins…
continues... they've already passed other anti-trans measures, but yea I get your sentiment.
How long until they bring back “whites only” drinking fountains?
I guess it's easiest to simply defund and destroy the progressive campuses...make Ron DeSantis all proud and shit...
any sane judge would at least toss the private college aspect, but we don't live in a sane timeline.
I mean any sane judge would tell them to fuck off and they're violating all sorts of rights, but at a minimum the state has no business enacting or enforcing this on private property.
Keyword sane!
Enforcement of this deplorable ban will be difficult or impossible. It’s just another example of the contagion of hate emboldened by the election
I look forward to the pearl-clutching when bearded, muscular trans men use the ladies' room. Or the absolute freak outs when cis dudes at the urinal see femme trans women in dresses walking in behind them.
Can the private colleges just call all bathrooms unisex? Seriously asking if that would be a work around.
In Oregon I am seeing more and more restrooms that are not gender specific. Or if they have gender specific they have one individual restroom with a lock.
I stop at Starbucks when driving with my adult trans child since they only have individual bathrooms & they are everywhere
They thought of that - there is a provision in the bill that explicitly states no existing restroom may be converted to gender neutral or all gender facilities and none may even be constructed going forward!
It's not just students, either, it's anyone in and of the school or college buildings.
Ugh. Forgot to spell check. Anyone in ANY of the buildings, not and.