Bathroom bill...what about the girls?

[WOT?*]

aplus.com/a/trans-teen-corey-maison-bathroom-law?utm_content=inf_11_459_2&utm_campaign=i2984&tse_id=INF_0132fcf695b34028acdb5be0ccff3348

A transgender teen in Michigan is using her growing online popularity to raise awareness for the LGBTQ community.

Last year, 14-year-old Corey Maison received her first estrogen prescription from her mom in a video that went viral online. Maison endured years of bullying at school before fully embracing her gender identity as a teen.

To commemorate Maison's transition, her mom arranged a photo session with New Jersey-based photographer Meg Bitton in December.

A few weeks ago, North Carolina passed their controversial "bathroom bill" aimed at keeping transgender individuals from using the bathrooms intended for the gender they identify as. Maison says the bill is an attack on basic human rights.

"I feel transgender rights are not about gender identity, but about equal rights for ALL human beings," Maison wrote to A Plus. "We aren't aliens, we are PEOPLE and deserve the same rights as everyone else. I shouldn't have to use a family or special 'staff' bathroom to exclude me or single me out more than I already am and put an even bigger target on my back. I should be allowed to use the bathroom I feel most comfortable in, just like everyone else is allowed to do."

Her mother and Bitton decided to share the photograph on Facebook to show that North Carolina's law is putting transgender kids like Maison in danger.

"If this was YOUR daughter, would you be comfortable sending her into a men's bathroom? Neither would I," Bitton wrote on Facebook. "Be fair. Be kind. Be empathetic. Treat others how you would like to be treated."

Original Post: If this was YOUR daughter, would you be comfortable sending her into a men's bathroom? Neither would I. Be fair. Be kind. Be empathetic. Treat others how you would like to be treated.

Second Post: I guess I need to edit this post. Corey IS TRANSGENDER.

Third Post for those STILL not able to understand: If this was YOUR daughter, would you be comfortable sending her into a men's bathroom? Neither would I. Corey Maison is transgender. She was born with male anatomy but identifies as a female. Under the new laws, SHE would be forced to use the men's room. Therefore, I would not be comfortable sending HER into the men's room if she was my daughter. Be fair. Be kind. Be empathetic. Treat others how you would like to be treated.

Fourth Post: Corey helped with her make up AND I edited the image FOR her, the way SHE would like it. Not for me and certainly not for any of you.

Fifth Post: It is impossible to moderate this post, try as we may. I want to delete it as badly as I don't want to delete it. I decided to let Corey's mother make that call and she asked for it to stay to raise awareness so it will. PLEASE BE ASSURED that I do not in anyway support the trolling insanity I am seeing here and I VERY MUCH appreciate all the positivity around Corey as does she AND her family.

(and my aside...OMG she is gorgeous.)

Bitton's message seems to echo a common sentiment from supporters of the bathroom bill, who say they feel uncomfortable sending their cisgender daughters into bathrooms with transgender women. Powerfully, she turns the argument on its head to promote tolerance and advocate for the personal safety of girls like Maison — girls the bill's supporters appear to have forgotten.

The Facebook photo received over 21,000 shares in a single day. Many people thanked Maison and Bitton for bravely putting a face to this issue.

"The public reaction has been both positive and negative, thankfully MORE positive than negative," Maison wrote to A Plus. "People are just using fear mongering and religion to disguise their bigotry and hate. All of the messages I have received have been 100 percent positive and of support. People are telling me how brave I am for sharing my story and thanking me for having the courage to share it."

[emisi]

What a gorgeous girl! Seriously, people want to force her to go into the men's room? She'd be so scared, I"m sure the comments from the "men" in there would be terrible. And yeah, of course people are ignoring the women who would be forced to go into the men's room... they're "pansies" and therefore easy for guys in there to beat up.

[One Girl In All The World]

There's a transgender girl in my daughter's pre-k class. And the only reason I even know that is because the transition has occurred during her time in preschool, but according to her mom she has known this is who she is basically since she was old enough to form words. I am glad that we aren't in a state like NC because omg, I cannot imagine sending that girl (or any girl in her shoes) into a mens bathroom. No. 

[isabel]

She is gorgeous!

[livinitup]

Seriously.

[Deleted]

This girl is so brave. And so very, very right!

[WOT?*]

And I love this guy!
www.upworthy.com/heres-what-itll-look-like-if-trans-people-arent-allowed-to-use-the-right-bathroom

[WanderingWinoZ]

Good for them! All this sexual predator stuff makes me LOL.... like 1- there isn't anytnig about being a sexual predator that is linked to LBGTQ and 2- a bathroom law really doesn't change anything that a sexual predator would do.

[secretlyevil]

She is so beautiful. These bills are just so hateful.

[ECB]

Apr 29, 2016 3:35:49 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

And I love this guy!
www.upworthy.com/heres-what-itll-look-like-if-trans-people-arent-allowed-to-use-the-right-bathroom

That's awesome and it's so spot on.  People would be FREAKED OUT if he walked into a woman's room. You know it.

And that one quote about how using the bathroom is a CHOICE?  WTF with that?  If you need to go, you NEED to go.  There isn't much 'choice' there. 

[WOT?*]

Apr 29, 2016 6:23:29 GMT -5 ECB said:

Apr 29, 2016 3:35:49 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

And I love this guy!
www.upworthy.com/heres-what-itll-look-like-if-trans-people-arent-allowed-to-use-the-right-bathroom

That's awesome and it's so spot on.  People would be FREAKED OUT if he walked into a woman's room. You know it.

And that one quote about how using the bathroom is a CHOICE?  WTF with that?  If you need to go, you NEED to go.  There isn't much 'choice' there. 

There's a secondary (supportive) argument that going to the bathroom IS a choice and not a right; stores provide restrooms as a customer service, not because they are required to. As such, they can regulate them however they want. If you don't like it, go elsewhere.

And with that argument, WTF with North Carolina regulating/restricting bathroom usage anyway?

[mominatrix]

Apr 29, 2016 10:42:19 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

Apr 29, 2016 6:23:29 GMT -5 ECB said:

That's awesome and it's so spot on.  People would be FREAKED OUT if he walked into a woman's room. You know it.

And that one quote about how using the bathroom is a CHOICE?  WTF with that?  If you need to go, you NEED to go.  There isn't much 'choice' there. 

There's a secondary (supportive) argument that going to the bathroom IS a choice and not a right; stores provide restrooms as a customer service, not because they are required to. As such, they can regulate them however they want. If you don't like it, go elsewhere.

And with that argument, WTF with North Carolina regulating/restricting bathroom usage anyway?

I believe some classes of establishments are required to provide bathrooms (at least in some locations). The one I remember most clearly is that businesses that sell food to be consumed on premises have to provide a bathroom.

Also, I'd be shocked if local ordinances or state liquor laws didn't require bathrooms in bars. Because ewwww.