Via Joe Gordon I find this BBC article about a special toilet for transgender people in Thailand. In this particular case it is probably the right move because it is only for MfF school kids, all of whom will presumably be pre-op and still exploring their gender identity. More generally, it is not a good idea.
There are, of course, some transgender people who regard themselves as a separate gender, neither male nor female. Those people have as much right to their own gender identity as anyone else. But many transgender people, and most transsexuals, do not see themselves as “third gender”. They regard themselves as either male or female. Requiring such people to use a separate “transgender” toilet explicitly denies their right to determine their own gender, and eventually leads to nonsense like ToiletGate where someone who is physically (if not chromosomally) female and has been living as such for 30 years is suddenly denied access to a women’s toilet because some buffoon in minor position of authority assumes the right to tell someone else what gender they are. It will also, of course, end up with MtF and FtM transgender people being required to use the same toilet, thereby creating exactly the sort of mixed-gender toilet experience that Toilet Panic is supposed to prevent.
Trans toilets won’t become widespread in Thailand for purely economic reasons, I think.
Which is a pity, as in Thailand (and the article is correct) there are Trans toilets at some “forward thinking” schools to prevent the Trans kids from being assaulted in the toilet by other kids.
Also, and this is based on my knowledge of Thai culture from living there, there won’t be the issue of MtF and FtM transgender people being required to use the same toilet due to the fact that Thai culture (Generally but overwhelmingly) doesn’t acknowledge the possibility of the existence of FtM people.
Really.
MtF people are utterly common. Generally MtF behavior is mostly tolerated, if not “accepted” which is to say there is no grief if the next door neighbor’s kid is MtF, so long as it isn’t our kid.
In schools, however, like everywhere on earth, kids are cruel and kids who are different suffer.
The article- to me- presented the Issue and the facts as they exist in Thailand quite well and truthfully.
If you want to know more about the reasons for acceptance of Mtf but NOT FtM people, just ask me.
One interesting possibility is to have a single restroom which some establishments are trying now. The Frisson Restaurant on Jackson Street in San Francisco has such an arrangement. You walk into a room with a common hand washing area and about 8 individual stalls with full height doors. My experience is that it works well enough. And FYI the food is good at Frisson. I have been there a couple of times in the past year and enjoyed it both times.
Of course there are all of the issues about keeping the facility clean which might be difficult if the current students are anything like youth were when I was young. So for a school I am not sure if it is a good idea or not.
But it is good that it is being thought about.
Fred:
That does indeed work perfectly well. It also saves space in the restaurant. But creative solutions like this don’t occur to people suffering from Toilet Panic, because after all they are not looking for solutions, they are looking for problems.