Scotland passed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill the other day and British Twitter, very predictably, exploded in hatred. One tweet that stood out to me is this one:
“I believe every women who voted this through should be forced to undress in a changing room with a trans women.”
An interesting word, that “forced.” (HMS_Ark_Royal has yet to respond to my question about how, exactly, they plan to force me and women like me to undress in front of strangers.) You see, forcing a woman to strip is an act of sexual assault, and I am intrigued as to why this individual thinks sexual assault is a fitting punishment/trial for anybody of any gender.
“But the government is going to MAKE people change in trans-inclusive changing rooms where they will see GENITALS! THAT’S sexual violence! THAT’S what we mean!” Except, that’s not how public changing rooms work. Or public toilets for women. I (cis woman) have been using public toilets and dressing rooms since a very young age and I have never seen a single genital in any of them. Here, I drew you a diagram.
If someone is trying to force their way into one of the private booths, they are a sex offender REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY’RE TRANS OR NOT, REGARDLESS OF WHAT GENDER BATHROOM THEY’RE USING. Oh and yes, “I just forced my way in to check whether they had a vagina or a penis!” counts as well, I’m afraid.
Gender neutral bathrooms are already the norm for a HUGE selection of the British population, and I’ve shared crowded public bathrooms with trans women many a time. Probably without even noticing in some cases. Apparently that’s bad, but wanting women to be be forced to strip is just fine, right?
Little bit of projection going on there I think.