A transgender Out@PSA member explores the implications of NZ First’s Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill, and how transphobia has made bathrooms a hot-button issue.
Content warning: discussions of sexual violence
Where transgender people pee has become a hot topic in Aotearoa New Zealand recently. This is in no small part thanks to imported trans-exclusionary radical feminism from the likes of Posie Parker washing up on our shores, with support from anti-trans figures like Brian Tamaki and his followers.
Most recently, we’ve seen New Zealand First MP Tanya Unkovich add her “Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill” to the Members’ Bills ballot, which proposes a fine of up to $2000 for anyone “who uses a single-sex toilet and is not of the sex for which that toilet has been designated.” The Bill would enable the fining of trans people for using the toilet that aligns with their gender identity – further marginalising them – not mentioning the mystery around how monitoring who can use what bathroom would work.
The Bill also proposes making fully enclosed unisex toilets mandatory in all buildings other than dwellings. To be fair to Tanya, I think most of us would agree that going to the bathroom in an individual cubicle is generally a better experience for everyone, regardless of whether you’re trans or cis – who doesn’t like a bit of privacy while going to the loo? However, the prevalence and accessibility of these bathrooms is limited across workplaces, restaurants, and other venues, and this won’t magically change overnight if the Bill ever becomes law. Trans people shouldn’t be expected to climb three flights of stairs and queue outside the only unisex cubicle in their building for 20 minutes just to use a toilet that is more acceptable to those around us.
The thing is, many trans people are already using the bathroom that align with their gender and… nothing has happened. In fact, one in 200 adults in Aotearoa identify as trans or non-binary, so chances are you’ve already shared a bathroom with a trans person without even knowing.
The manufactured “discussion" around trans people and toilets often focuses on protecting cisgender women from sexual violence, but regularly excludes how trans people experience sexual violence at almost triple the rate that cisgender women do.
As reported in the 2019 Counting Ourselves survey, Aotearoa’s first survey of trans and non-binary people, 32% of trans and non-binary people reported that they had been made to have sex against their will, compared to 11% of cisgender women and 3% of cisgender men. There is also zero evidence that allowing trans people to access facilities that align with their gender increases risk to the safety of cis people accessing the same facilities.
The best way to protect women in public toilets? Let all women go to the bathroom where they feel safest to go to the bathroom.
All trans people deserve the dignity of going to the toilet just like anyone else. If you find your employer trying to control who can use which bathroom in your workplace, make sure to listen to your trans colleagues and advocate for their right to self-determine which bathroom is right for them. And if you know someone trans and you see them using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, just let them pee and go on with your day.
