trans bathroom bans

i am so very sick of people bringing up trans men as some sort of rhetorical gotcha when talking about trans bathroom bans. ‘haha conservatives say they want to keep ‘men’ out of women’s bathrooms, but what about trans men then’ is not really a useful takedown by any means.

the transphobes pushing this legislation do not want trans men in women’s bathrooms or vice versa. they want trans & gender nonconforming people of all genders & presentations to feel unsafe in all public bathroom facilities.

and i keep seeing these talking points dredged up again and again. how transphobes supposedly do not know that there are trans people who look indistinguishable from cis people with or without hormone replacement therapy. how they are so silly for wanting to force passing trans people into bathrooms that do not correspond with their gender identity & presentation. how ridiculous it is that transphobes want people to carry their birth certificates just so they can prove their right to use a bathroom.

the fact that passing trans people & people with nonconforming gender presentations exist is perfectly congruent with the intent of transphobic bathroom bans. these bills are being pushed not just to humiliate people by subjecting them to cruelty, although that certainly is a part of it. the goal ultimately is to limit trans & GNC people’s access to public life.

access to public restrooms, showers & dressing rooms is essential to navigating public life. not being able to use the bathroom when needed can have significant detrimental effects on one’s health, physical or otherwise.

transphobes generally are well aware that some trans men look just like cis men. just as they are aware that some trans men & transmasculine people look gender nonconforming. they are not truly suggesting that these people should use the women’s bathroom. what they really want is for trans people to not use public bathrooms at all.

transphobes know that women’s restrooms are not safe for trans men. they are not safe for gender nonconforming people of all genders. that is why they want to make men’s bathrooms unsafe for trans & GNC people too: the goal is to make all options unsafe. this is and always has been about keeping people who do not conform to cisheteropatriarchal standards out of public life.

there is little need for another quip about how ‘illogical’ transphobes are for ‘wanting trans men in women’s bathrooms.’ transphobia does not operate by logical means in the first place. but even so, this position only seems illogical if you do not consider its actual intent. transphobes want trans people out of public life by any means: forced out of public spaces, forced to hide, forced into the closet, forced to detransition. understand & counter what they really mean.