Rethinking gendered spaces: bathrooms and safe access for trans people

Project (M.S.W., Social Work) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2011For a transgender person, safe entry into a ???men???s or women???s??? public restroom can be daunting. These gender non-conforming persons face harassment and discrimination when using either gendered public bathroom. Since many gender-variant people may not identify within this gender binary system, they often feel conflicted and at odds with this dominant, heteronormative presumption. This qualitative study explored safe access for transgender persons to public gender segregated restrooms. Study participants consisted of seven transgender individuals, and the following themes emerged from their face-to-face interviews: 1) Each participant described the gender policing glances, comments and actions directed at them, while attempting safe access into public restrooms, 2) As participants??? confidence levels in ???passing??? as their prefered gender increased, there was a marked decrease in being ???read??? as being in the wrong restroom, 3) Each participant preferred using gender-neutral single-stall restrooms prior to, during, and, in some cases, after transition. Implications for social work practice and policy were also discussed.Social Wor