Why the "transgender" bathroom controversy should make us rethink sex-segregated public bathrooms

This article draws a theoretical distinction between "transgender" as an identity, and "transgender" as a form of discrimination, in order to better understand the political stakes of recent and ongoing "bathroom bills" that restrict access to sex-segregated public rest...

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Published in:Politics, groups & identities groups & identities, 2018-04, Vol.6 (2), p.199-216
Main Author: Davis, Heath Fogg
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bathrooms
Cisgender
Discrimination
Feminism
gender identity
gender studies
Identity
Intersectionality
Masculinity
Privacy
restrooms
Sex discrimination
Sexism
trans
Transgender persons
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description This article draws a theoretical distinction between "transgender" as an identity, and "transgender" as a form of discrimination, in order to better understand the political stakes of recent and ongoing "bathroom bills" that restrict access to sex-segregated public restrooms to our "biological sex." Some, but not all, transgender people encounter discrimination in sex-segregated bathrooms. And many people who do not self-identify as transgender are in fact harmed by this institutionalized social custom. This includes masculine-appearing cisgender women, feminine-appearing cisgender men, as well as all people who are directed to use female-designated bathrooms. I describe this far-reaching sexism as sex-identity discrimination. And because sex-segregated public restrooms, by their very nature, always prompt and enable this kind of discrimination, I argue that we should eliminate them, and use inclusive design to build no-gender public restrooms that meet our reasonable expectations for personal privacy and safety.
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source International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS); Taylor & Francis; Worldwide Political Science Abstracts; Sociological Abstracts
subjects Bathrooms
Cisgender
Discrimination
Feminism
gender identity
gender studies
Identity
Intersectionality
Masculinity
Privacy
restrooms
Sex discrimination
Sexism
trans
Transgender persons
title Why the "transgender" bathroom controversy should make us rethink sex-segregated public bathrooms
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