EXPLAINED | Safety for all in public bathrooms

With International Pride Month a thing of the past, many corporations and states continue to take a stance on the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Most recently, Japan's supreme court ruled that it is illegal to restrict any transgender person from accessing a bathroom. This is a first for the country in its stance on the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the workplace.

On the other hand, constant questions are being asked about transgender people accessing bathrooms, in particular transwomen, which some feel might open doors to violence. One prominent example is controversial Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who landed in hot water for her views on the matter and her thoughts on the rights of cisgender (a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex registered for them at birth) women. 

WHAT IS TRANSGENDER?

There are different ways people can transition; social, legal, internal and physical. Planned Parenthood breaks these down as social transition, involving the process of coming out as well as being identified with the gender pronouns with which you are comfortable.

Legal transitions involve having your identity changed on legal documents. Internal refers to how a transgender person might experience the need to identify differently from the gender they were assigned at birth, while physical transitions involve a trans person undergoing surgery to align with their identity. The latter can also include non-medical physical transitions that are typically done before transition.

Some countries identify trans people according to these pillars. In South Africa, the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act 2003 allows people to apply for their sex to be changed on the civil registry where sex reassignment surgery (physical transition) is not required. This does not exclude the requirements of undergoing hormone therapy.

A CALL FOR CO-ED BATHROOMS

In the case of the ruling by the Japan supreme court, it came after a transgender employee of the trade ministry was not able to use the bathrooms of the gender she identifies as. While the ruling restricts any discrimination, it does not match the requirements to use co-ed bathrooms as requested by transgender people in a survey conducted last year in Japan. The same survey, run by Lixil (a housing goods company), revealed that 70% of cisgender people queried did not have a problem with this.

There have been similar calls for co-ed bathrooms in South Africa, including in a statement by OUT LGBT Well Being.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN BATHROOMS

While major tech companies, among them Google and Barclays, have embraced unisex bathrooms, not everyone is on the same page. Other than the logistical mess that comes with certain bathrooms prioritising urinals, a female employee in the UK refused to use a newly refurbished co-ed bathroom due to male colleagues peeing with the door open. 

While the issue of trans people accessing bathrooms of their chosen gender is debatable, some religious groups, including Muslims, have had issues with unisex bathrooms as they contravene their religious beliefs. 

However, it would seem the violence expected in these bathrooms is a myth when it is LGBTQ+ individuals who are more in danger of being violated. A piece by Time Magazine reports that heterosexual men have often dressed as women to access certain spaces but there has no correlation with claims of violence.

A police department spokesperson told media watchdog Media Matters that they “doubt that’s gonna encourage the behaviour. If the behaviour’s there, [sexual predators are] gonna behave as they’re gonna behave, no matter what the laws are.”

The violence queer people face in bathrooms is contained in a 2020 report on schools and other public spaces spanning 2015 to 2018. A local report, In their voices: Being (trans) gender diverse at a South African university, has documented the experiences of transgender and gender-diverse queer people in the country.

The issue remains contentious for multiple groups and individuals. As rights for queer people continue to become more recognised globally, perhaps the bathroom is one place to start when considering equality for all.

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