Transgender Student in Women's Locker Room Raises Uproar

[bat1]

Transgender Student in Women's Locker Room Raises Uproar
The decision to allow a transgender 45-year-old college student who identifies as a woman but has male genitalia to use the women's locker room has raised a fracas among parents and faith-based organizations, who say children as young as 6 years old use the locker room.
The locker room at Evergreen College in Olympia, Wash., is shared with the Capital High School swim club and a children's swim academy, along with the students at Evergreen.
"The college has to follow state law," Evergreen spokesman Jason Wettstein told ABC News affiliate KOMO. "The college cannot discriminate based on the basis of gender identity. Gender identity is one of the protected things in discrimination law in this state."
But according to parents, the fact that the student has exposed her male genitalia, in one instance in the sauna, is cause for concern.
"[A mother] reported her daughter was upset because she observed a person at the women's locker room naked and displaying male genitalia," said a police report filed in September by a mother on behalf of her 17-year-old daughter.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based religious liberties group, sent a letter to Evergreen College on Friday, warning it that the decision to allow the transgender student to continue using the locker room could put the school in jeopardy.
"The fact that this individual was sitting in plain view of young girls changing into their swimsuits puts you and Evergreen on notice of possible future harm," David Hacker, senior legal counsel, wrote.
The college has installed privacy curtains, and said it would not change its policy for now.

[qwerty94]

this is a tricky situation... who's to say that a man in drag won't claim they're transgender just to check out girls changing?... i think there need to be stricter guidelines.... therapists letter, evidence of active HRT, etc...

clearly, i understand the whole, "I AM a woman" etc... but at the end of the day, you still have a dick and IF you are allowed to use your desired locker room/restroom/etc, you should be respectful of the rest of the people in that space. I cannot stand trans people who believe the entire world should cater to their needs and then completely spit in everyones face. You're in a women's locker room... people don't go there(usually) to see dicks everywhere...

[amberskyi]

when ever i use the womens locker room im never fully nude.i may go topless to shower and such but i usually use bikini bottoms in which im fully tucked.
my goal is to blend in with society as a woman,not make a spetical of myself

[rydermorrison]

i heard from a trans woman on fb that this lady was actually a nudist and has caused controversy before over stuff like this..

[Merkurie]

What if she were forced to use the men's locker room.

[rydermorrison]

transphobic ppl have claimed that these laws will allow pretend trans women ( men in drag) to infiltrate the locker room to prey on women but these laws have been on the books for a long time in certain places in canada and it hasnt happened. predators will prey regardless of the law.and trans women are would be victims as well. since when was it ok to persecute victims because of male rapists?

[GrimFusion]

I was beginning to think that this was just a case of a bunch of Christian soccer moms on a witch hunt, but now I'm not so sure. I don't agree with qwerty; I don't see any risk associated with allowing transpeople to use facilities associated with their gender identity. Assuming that there's a risk also assumes that transfolk are more prone to acts of public lewdness and indecency than their genetic counterparts and I strictly don't believe that's true. The Alliance Defending Freedom is taking that whole debate to the next level and seems to be implying transwomen allowed to use public gym facilities have a propensity to become sex offenders. What the fuck? No.

I think the church should be able to ban her from using gym facilities because she's being lewd and stupid. There are plenty of places nation-wide that allow nudists to express themselves; a church college's locker room isn't one of them and I'd assume she not only knew that, but purposely pushed the envelope so-to-speak. Irregardless, she should be treated like any other female misusing college facilities, not like a freak and possible sex offender.

Lastly, I don't feel this should turn into a "which locker room should she use" debate. The church obviously trusted her to use their facilities accordingly and she broke that trust; it's as simple as that. If anything, instead of feeling for this chick, I'm surprised she's not being berated by the community for setting back trans equality issues by about a decade.

[onmyknees]

Transgender Student in Women's Locker Room Raises Uproar
The decision to allow a transgender 45-year-old college student who identifies as a woman but has male genitalia to use the women's locker room has raised a fracas among parents and faith-based organizations, who say children as young as 6 years old use the locker room.
The locker room at Evergreen College in Olympia, Wash., is shared with the Capital High School swim club and a children's swim academy, along with the students at Evergreen.
"The college has to follow state law," Evergreen spokesman Jason Wettstein told ABC News affiliate KOMO. "The college cannot discriminate based on the basis of gender identity. Gender identity is one of the protected things in discrimination law in this state."
But according to parents, the fact that the student has exposed her male genitalia, in one instance in the sauna, is cause for concern.
"[A mother] reported her daughter was upset because she observed a person at the women's locker room naked and displaying male genitalia," said a police report filed in September by a mother on behalf of her 17-year-old daughter.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based religious liberties group, sent a letter to Evergreen College on Friday, warning it that the decision to allow the transgender student to continue using the locker room could put the school in jeopardy.
"The fact that this individual was sitting in plain view of young girls changing into their swimsuits puts you and Evergreen on notice of possible future harm," David Hacker, senior legal counsel, wrote.
The college has installed privacy curtains, and said it would not change its policy for now.



Somethin don't smell right here, but since there's no link to the full article, I'm left with more questions....Why is a 45 year old transgender in the locker room with the high school swim team and the children's swim acamedy? And what defines "transgender" in this particular case with respect to state law? The law seems to be well intentioned, but what's the criteria? Does it require a change in gender on state documents...should it?

Why is she exposing her dick in the sauna? I've never been in a women's only sauna, but don't they wrap in towels? Why wouldn't this person behave like what Amber described when in the presence of young people who may not have a full understaning ? This isn't Dino's apartment, it's a woman's locker room at a college that's appearently used by even younger girls.

[Dino Velvet]

This isn't Dino's apartment

Hey, I saw that. I have a 3 bedroom house in Westwood with a guest house, thank you very much.

[onmyknees]

Hey, I saw that. I have a 3 bedroom house in Westwood with a guest house, thank you very much.


LOL...somehow I just thought of you when I read the line about her in the sauna nude :dancing:

[Dino Velvet]

LOL...somehow I just thought of you when I read the line about her in the sauna nude :dancing:

You put the idea in my head so you're now responsible...:party:

[trish]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/15/locker-room-etiquette_n_1598366.html#slide=1098014

Rule 8: Locker rooms with saunas provide towels for a reason.

http://www.inquisitr.com/386218/washington-non-discrimination-policy-allows-transgender-man-to-share-locker-room-with-young-girls/

[fred41]

this is a tricky situation... who's to say that a man in drag won't claim they're transgender just to check out girls changing?... i think there need to be stricter guidelines.... therapists letter, evidence of active HRT, etc...


Who's to say an old lesbian won't do the same thing?

The issue seems to be one of maybe having age restrictions at certain times and following modesty guidelines.

[livepersona]

I think people should have equal rights. However, even though there are laws ruled in favor of transgenders you have to be smart enough to know where to draw the line. Things will NEVER be 100% accepting, NEVER. Especially if you try to flaunt it in the face of all.

[trish]

Doesn't matter whether people are 100% accepting or not, but laws and policies should be 100% equitable and they determine the line. If the university doesn't want transgender women to be naked in the sauna, they should have a policy that says no one can be naked in the sauna.

Scheduling different times of locker room use for different age groups can be problematic. High school meets usually are evening affairs, but that is also a peek time for college student use the gym. Americans just gotta stop being prudes.

[nina_lisa]

http://www.inquisitr.com/386218/washington-non-discrimination-policy-allows-transgender-man-to-share-locker-room-with-young-girls/

When she is a woman, why do media insist on calling her a man?

[nina_lisa]

In Europe is pretty often people will 100% go nude in the locker room, no private changing rooms etc.

Even before taking any hormones, I always covered myself in a towel or used the bathroom to change my cloth. Once i was 4-5 months on estrogen, i just stopped going to the gym, as i figured out i'll make men uncomfortable going to the men locker room because i have boobs, women will be uncomfortable because i have a penis.

(funny thing as i slowly started to look different so many men felt threatened and stopped speaking with me, while more women will chat with me)

This said, how often do we have cases of trans women, going to women bathroom or locker room, and raping or harassing GG?

On the other side how many trans women, got harassed, beaten up or even raped while using locker room or bathroom?

If i was a man trying to pick up women, i wouldn't pretend to be trans or dress like a women and use their bathroom, i'll have more chances finding a woman while dressed like a man an acting like a man at the end of the day.

She have a dick? while i would never do what she did. it is not like she is shoving her dick, down other women throat. if you don't like how it look, just look the other way. Is she walking around telling other women: hey look at my dick, do you find it beautiful?

[stallion79]

When I went to the gym with my gf at the time, we used a family changing room to avoid this kind of scenario. That's not always going to be an option, I know, but it helps avoid the "embarrassment" in these types of issues.

One time we did go to the male changing room at a local swimming pool, and that did raise a few eyebrows. But it's not like we were blatant about it or anything. Just need to exercise good judgment and an appropriate time/appropriate place mentality.

[Faith_CD]

it sounds more to me lik this girl just wants to be naked. that's all well and good but when you do things like this, no matter the gender, you're asking for issues.

[Adama77]

I don't care about the religious aspect of any of the complaints or anything like that, but I have to agree with qwerty94... who knows if this person isn't just using the TG thing as an excuse? I mean, you have a 45 year-old person using a school facility... where school-aged youth go. I kind of have a problem with it on that basis only. If it was an adult-only locker room, fine, but the fact that high-school kids use the place kind of makes me think there's more to this.

[danthepoetman]

What if she were forced to use the men's locker room.
I’m not sure we know enough about the whole thing to make an enlighten judgement. But I find that in the abstract, Merkurie’s point is very good. What if she has tried getting in the man’s locker room and was threatened? What if she was not feeling safe in there? Of course I agree that you don’t show your cock when there’s kids present! duh!... But we don’t really know the circumstances. And some people sometimes make a whole fuzz for stuff that’s not that serious. There is indeed prude people out there, as Trish, Nina Lisa and earlier on, Grim alluded to…

[Jamie French]

I don't care who it's attached to, 45 year penis doesn't belong in a girls school gym shower.
No one gets to have everything in the goddamned world. Let the kiddies have a locker room's worth of space for christ sakes.