Op-Ed: A Lesson From “What Would You Do?”

Last week the ABC show What Would You Do? featured a segment with a transgender woman being harassed by another patron of a restaurant after the trans woman asked where the ladies’ room was located. The female patron doing the harassment had a young girl with her and used all the tired arguments about safety that imply trans women are some kind of sexual predators, and called the trans woman a man several times. The trans woman reacted civilly and defended her right to use the women’s restroom.

As this played out hidden cameras scanned the faces of the other people in the restaurant. The scene was played several times with different diners witnessing the conflict. In a majority of the cases other diners stood up for the rights of the trans woman and said she should be allowed to use the ladies’ room. A couple of those who stood up for her and rebuked the woman making a fuss said they were Christians and that while they may not like the way gender has changed in the past few years they did not think it was right for the transgender person to be denied the use of the restroom. Particularly in such a public and rude manner.

One older black woman said she was a Christian and her faith didn’t allow her to discriminate against people because of who they are. She added that she knew what that felt like.

Jazz Jennings was also on the show and in some scenes portrayed a friend of the first trans woman. She was there when the older lady defended her “friend’s” right to use the facilities. That lady had a friend dining with her and her friend recognized Jazz, which ended the scene when host John Quiñones came in and both of the ladies were star struck over meeting Jazz.

The takeaway from the segment was that the majority of people in the diner, a diner in New Jersey, defended the trans woman’s right to use the restroom corresponding to her gender. There was one older man who blamed the rise of transgender identities on President Obama. Even he said nothing while the scene was playing but when asked later about the faces he made he admitted he did not think it was right for trans women to use the ladies’ room. So even the guy with the most animosity toward the trans woman would not have stopped her from going into the ladies’ room.

What this says to us is that for the most part the American people are willing to live and let live. If you fear that you will be attacked for being trans while out in public you are overreacting to media reports of the real violence that does haunt the trans community. Particularly the part of the community containing trans women of color. Not everyone is so loosely wrapped that your presence will set them off into a murderous rage. Those people do exist and you need to be vigilant about who you interact with but don’t let fear keep you from being who you are. The more visible trans people are in public settings the less we will have to fear.

At this time our culture is more accepting of LGBTQ people than ever before. Our government though defies the will of the people which is basically “live and let live” to cater to a minority of voters who find LGBTQ people to be “sinners.” Some of these so-called religious people advocate that LGBTQ people be imprisoned or killed. That sort of hate is unreasoned and unwarranted. Those people are a real threat and we have to be aware that they are out there. But, again, don’t let a minority of people keep you from being you.

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Tags: featured, opinion, restroom wars, Transgender

Category: Transgender Opinion