I was harassed in a bathroom. HuffPost published my story.
A strange man asked me an intrusive question…while I was sitting on the toilet in a women’s bathroom.
He wanted to know if I was female or male.
I basically had an anxiety attack.
Do you know how alarming it can be to have a man yelling at you through the door of a bathroom stall?
I wrote about what happened for HuffPost.
We talk a lot about transgender rights here, but sometimes it takes a personal experience to help people empathize with our marginalized communities.
My story is one example of the public harassment faced by women with short hair, trans folks, and anyone gender-nonconforming.
This is why bathroom bills are a threat to women and girls, trans or not. These laws embolden members of the public to harass anyone who doesn’t fit a narrow definition of what women or men “should” look like within the gender binary.
If you’re here from HuffPost, welcome! Thanks for reading my story. I appreciate you!
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Let’s keep the comments respectful, please. I will be moderating and blocking. There is a “report” feature to kick comments into a queue for me to sort through. Please report to the admin (me) if you see something unwanted.
Take care,
Rey
Rey, as the mother of a trans masc non-binary adult, this broke my heart and at the same time filled me with admiration for your bravery and vulnerability in writing this. My kid is your age. I’m afraid for them but I’m so proud of them. (The mom in me has to say, please don’t read the comments on Huff Post. They tend to get vile.) I hope that our country will not always be this cruel. Sending you a mom hug.
The irony of these wrongheaded bathroom laws: the man who harassed you in the women’s restroom was violating the very law he probably agrees with 🤦🏼♀️.
Cis het men cause more trauma in the world than any demographic, but let’s focus on legislating and policing likely the least harmless people in our communities. My head hurts at how senseless and hurtful this all is. Thank you for sharing your story Rey.