People need to grow the fuck up and get over it.

i used to play bridge with the president of a national cross-dressers' organization, and he said virtually all cross-dressers would never consider a sex change.

foxnews has no shortage of bigotry in either case, but describing a cross-dresser as a "burly man wearing a dress" wouldn't necessarily be inaccurate or insulting. describing a transgender woman in that fashion would certainly be insulting and wrong.

or lipstick changes their gender.

So why do they need to use the ladies'?

Unless it were a dire emergency and no other option were available ...

... I make that assumption/guess based on me, my gender-normative dress habits and bathroom usage

Usually ladies' rooms are more crowded because (research has proven) they need more time.

many cross-dressers get a thrill out of being able to successfully pass for the other gender, not out of a sense of identity with the other gender, but simply out of pride in their costume/make-up/behaviors. it's like real-world acting. then again, for others, it's an expression of their other side.

the guy i met was very interesting and had plenty of great stories. most of the time we played he was "just a guy" at the local bridge club. usually he only was dressed to the nines for big tournaments. he always used the bathroom that matched his attire.

I'm assuming that the person wasn't a cross dresser.

They could have been a meeting of the Long Tall Sallies* for all we know


*made-up club name for tall women

People are afraid of their own damn shadows in the most innocuous situations sometimes.

I think there is a clothing company called Long, Tall Sally's.

Fucks nooz has issues that nobody can solve.

One of my friends could well be described as big and burly - and she's cis gender.

Don't people have anything better to worry about then who's using the bathroom stall next to them? Holy crap!

And bathrooms are places where they're often alone and vulnerable.

The question isn't whether a true transgender person is a risk -- but how do you keep male predators out while allowing some people with male bodies in?

I haven't been 'alone' in a ladies room in years. There's always somebody in there. In the stalls, waiting in line, washing their hands...

And have heard enough stories like these:


http://bradfordtoday.com/local-regional-news/cops-woman-attacked-in-mall-restroom.html

An Olean man who was released from prison Friday is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a public restroom at the Olean Center Mall on Sunday.

Police say 31-year-old Spencer Golden followed a woman into the restroom, forced her against a wall...

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/dekalb-investigators-looking-victim-hero-mall-bath/nRJS3/

"She did everything that you would want anyone to do in this tense situation. She fought him off. She pushed him out of the bathroom away from a child," Boston said. "She called for help. She got attention of security, and she made sure that he was apprehended."

Boston said this time, she's not soliciting the name of a suspect in a piece of surveillance video. 

Boston said Miranda is suspected in five incidents, three in Gwinnett and two at Perimeter Mall, all involving young women. 

"This might be your most solid case?" asked Channel 2's Mark Winne. 

"We believe it is. Because this is the only case where he was immediately apprehended," Boston answered.

I refuse to go through life jittery and afraid of every 'out in public', social type situation.

in public restrooms?

You can either sit around and whine about not feeling safe, or you can do something about it.

Self-defense isn't a bad idea for anyone, really; the confidence alone can be helpful to any kid who isn't the biggest, strongest or most popular. Women and girls, though, if they're still being taught that "fighting isn't ladylike" need some actual hands-on experience to know that yes, it is ladylike (evenly saintly: Joan of Arc).

I have a younger brother, so I learned how to fight - and fight hard - very early

But really, in a busy restaurant bathroom with a line waiting for stalls - that's one place I'm not thinking, "zOMG one these people might be dressed up as a woman as ruse to rob/rape/kill me."

I've actually had to fight off real attacks from real people meaning me serious harm, including a man dressed in men's clothing who had kidnaped and attempted to rape me.

Attacks in public restrooms aren't as uncommon as you might think.

They even mentioned a specific restroom in a large store that should be avoided. I'd used it before and it didn't look any worse than any other bathroom, so that was unnerving.

And when I was, my mother did not allow me to enter a public toilet alone (she also didn't let me use the stupid neologism 'restroom;' 'bathroom' is bad enough - it's a public toilet). Who lets their grade school age child go into a public toilet alone?

At any rate, I gave a particular example: busy restaurant with a line of people waiting for stalls. I didn't say such attacks were unheard of; I said that particular circumstance is low-risk. There are many good reasons not to use public toilets in large malls; unsupervised school-age children is right up there.

on their own, and many men stand outside while their daughters go into ladies' rooms.

Who can go all the way through 5th grade without ever needing to use a public restroom -- unless a parent of the same gender happens to be there?

And a father standing outside the door can hear something that doesn't sound right - or (gasp!) go in if he suspects something, or even ask a salesclerk to escort his child.

Or even have the child hold it till they get home or somewhere safer. Or plan their outings around their children's endurance. But I'm just going on my experience with parents who gave a damn about their children.

I took my sons with me into the ladies room, until they got a bit older. Then when they got older, I would wait for them immediately outside of the men's room. I always had an idea of how long I thought it should take and I was hyper alert about who went in before them and after them. And, wasn't above yelling in there for them to hurry up. And, they knew to respond quickly. They didn't want me charging in. LOL.

I had read a story years ago about a man who molested a child in a restaurant bathroom years ago while his parents were still sitting at their table. Awful...just awful. There are truly some awful people in the world.

I also have male friends who have taken their daughters to the men's room if necessary. Their stories are hilarious.

and there was a lady in there with her son. He asked as loudly as he could for the entire bathroom to hear "Mommy are you going poop or peeing?" I nearly fell off the toilet laughing when she replied "Honey, I really don't think everyone in the bathroom needs to know that."

There was more than a few chuckles.

At least not in my state.

You said that mothers don't let their "grade school age" children go into public restrooms alone, and I'm pointing out that grade schools include chlldren up to the age of 11.

I guess the women in those states don't get all jumpy about a 9-to-12 year old male child using the toilet with mom. My only concern is that they don't make a mess. Other than that, what. ev. er. Though I do feel for the older kids - I know they're dying of embarrassment.

who looked older than 8.

I'm not overly tall, but I'm average (low end if average, but still).

As I said elsewhere, this is one thing where I agree that being over cautious is not a bad idea; better silly than sorry.

They're just over 4 feet tall (49 inches) on average. Eleven year old boys are only about 52 inches.

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-weight-teens.shtml

I'm 5'3", or 63 inches. I'm saying I think a 10-12 year old boy would be close to my height.

http://www.fpnotebook.com/mobile/endo/exam/hghtmsrmntinchldrn.htm

Nobody in there seemed troubled by it. A couple of months ago we went to the Natural History museum in NYC. There was a man in the ladies with his daughter. Again, nobody though anything of it.

Not all kids have as male/female parent situation.

...as long as their aim is true, if you know what I mean. But that goes for any toilet and anyone, anywhere.

As I said above, I do kind of feel for the older kids who look embarrassed, but better silly than sorry. There are some things I think some parents are a little too "bubble wrap the world" about, but this isn't one of them - unless the kid is an able-bodied, competent 21-year old edit: even then, buddy system isn't a bad idea for anyone in an unknown or known iffy area!

Sorry, not laughing at the issue, just the OP title. Made me think of the anchor that does the news bits on Arrested Development.

bad for America