Ivović

Nobody should care about transgender people in bathrooms.

Milorad Ivović — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 11:30:28 +0000

Let me be clear from the outset: This is a non-issue which has been inflated by typical American puritanism. Of course there are security issues in public bathrooms, but those security issues are not exacerbated by the existence of transgender people, and they can’t be mitigated by a sign on the door.

Only about 0.6% of the population is transgendered. Lack of exposure contributes to widespread ignorance, but nothing excuses the breakdown of all sense and reason when it comes to people’s perception of them as a threat. It’s especially concerning that some people think rapists will break any number of other laws, but for some reason, they’ll respect the ones concerning bathrooms.

@CassandraRules men dressed in drag, walk into a bathroom your 13 year old daughter is in, she gets raped. .would you care?
— America First! (@pscully1812) February 23, 2017

If a rapist wants to exploit crossdressing as a means to enter public bathrooms, nothing prevents him from doing so. I can see how that might be a little bit scary, so how do we stop these crossdressing rapists? There’s very little evidence that crossdressing bathroom rapists exist at all, but that’s beside the point. What if they did? How could we stop them?

The sleepy mall security guy in the surveillance room isn’t much use. From that angle, and while playing Candy Crush, he’s unlikely to be able to spot even a thickly-bearded crossdresser. It’s going to come down to the people nearby to say something, which is why these anti-discrimination laws are as important as they are.

Public fear and ignorance means trans women will be harassed by pearl-clutching bathroom vigilantes who have until now apparently just been letting crossdressed men go anywhere they want. This wasn’t a major public problem before there were discrimination protections, so presumably those bathroom signs were keeping out all the cross dressing rapists.

The well-meaning god-fearing vigilantes are on the job now, so security will be called. Explanations will be given. Transgender people will be forced to justify themselves. It’s at that point that a civilised society really needs some legal protection for genuinely trans people. It’s a fairly simple matter to establish a public history of identifying as a different gender. It’s easy to find someone who supports your claim, and it should be just as simple under the law to exercise your anti-discrimination protection. When challenged and falsely accused of intending to harm someone, it’s important that the law treats you fairly. This protection exists so that innocent people aren’t mistreated if the situation escalates. As far as I can see it’s only applicable if someone is confronted. If nobody confronts a potential rapist, transgender or otherwise, then what difference could a discrimination law possibly make?

Nobody is patting down masculine-looking women and checking for bulges now, are they? Why not? They could be crossdressing rapists who have built up some kind of immunity to the power of bathroom signs. You don’t know!

Why even bother?

Having discrimination protection doesn’t mean every transgender person will be brave enough to risk confrontation with a screechy finger-pointing busy-body. Given the potential for confrontation, you may wonder why trans women would even bother. Surely fewer people would complain if a stubbled linebacker in a dress went into the men’s room, even if she had female genitalia.

If I’m honest with myself I have to admit that transgendered people make me a bit uncomfortable. The sight of feminine-looking men and butch-looking women is nothing more than a passing curiosity. It’s the successful ones that I struggle to process. On rare occasion I’ve found transgendered women attractive, and that’s really creeped me out. Some people rush to call that homophobia, but it’s not. Heterosexuality isn’t just a preference for one gender, it’s an aversion to the other. My response (and yours too) is healthy and normal.

However, I think anyone who ventures an opinion on this issue should probably spend a minute thinking about how it feels. If you choose to empathise before criticising, you might find a few practical considerations like differences in clothing, and more sinks with mirrors. A transgender woman in a dress wearing feminine underwear needs to use a stall, all men know the horrors of men’s room stalls. That floor is no place for your underwear to accidentally fall, or your dress to drag around on. A visit to this circle of hell really shouldn’t be necessary just to urinate. Women’s bathrooms aren’t perfect, but as far as I can tell, they’re mostly used by civilised people who aren’t relying on marksmanship.

Of course the main issue isn’t practical, it’s a matter of human dignity. Transgender people want to be understood and treated with respect. It’s easy to do if you look at that square-jawed lipsticked construction worker in a padded bra and realise that she just wants to feel like a woman.

Prior to sex reassignment surgery, physicians require their patients to live as their target gender for at least a year. A key part of that process is immersion in the fantasy that the rest of the world sees them as they wish to be seen. The rest of the community plays a role in this exercise by not pointing or referring to the ‘bloke in a dress.’ I imagine it would be extraordinarily difficult to determine if you’d be happy as a woman, if everyone refuses to treat you like one.

It’s only 0.6% of people, so it makes a lot more sense for us to educate ourselves and show some kindness than it does to build additional bathrooms for so few, especially since it wouldn’t even adequately address people’s concerns. Bathroom signs don’t stop predators.

Hello world!

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:36:37 +0000

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Here’s a really long title. One that should wrap nicely.

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:35:46 +0000

This is Post One

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:33:37 +0000

This is Post Two

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:33:19 +0000

This is Post Three

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:33:03 +0000

This is Post Four With a Long Title

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:32:48 +0000

This is Post Five

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:32:14 +0000

This is Post Six

Milorad Ivović — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 15:31:58 +0000

A Hero by Any Other Name

Milorad Ivović — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 16:20:36 +0000

Those closely following the trial of Pfc. Bradley Manning will have seen mention of his issues with gender identity as raised during his court-martial. While never put forward as a defence or as an excuse for leaking classified documents, the court heard about Manning’s gender dysphoria in the context of his relationship with supervisors and because his primary reason for joining the Army was to “get rid of it.”

Manning’s counsel David Coombs presented an email Manning sent to his supervisor containing a picture of him wearing a blonde wig and lipstick. The subject line read “My Problem.” Coombs contended that if Manning had felt better supported within the chain of command he might have considered internal avenues for whistleblowing before reaching out to WikiLeaks, however he underscored that due to Manning’s “strong moral compass” he would not have been satisfied unless public disclosures were made about the information he had in his possession, thereby making moot any decision to bypass those internal avenues.

While not widely reported at the time, Master Sgt Craig Blenis testified that during Manning’s detention in 2010 he sent two letters to his counsellor under the name Breanna.

Three years since those letters, and after the conclusion of his court-martial, Manning has announced he wants to live as a woman, stating “I am Chelsea”.

Here’s Chelsea Manning’s full statement as revealed to NBC Today:

Subject: The Next Stage of My Life

I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of support and encouragement have helped keep me strong. I am forever indebted to those who wrote to me, made a donation to my defense fund, or came to watch a portion of the trial. I would especially like to thank Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network for their tireless efforts in raising awareness for my case and providing for my legal representation.

As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back.

Thank you,

Chelsea E. Manning

While still legally named Bradley Manning and with that status unlikely to change while incarcerated, she has asked for anyone writing letters to use the name Bradley on the envelope, but Chelsea in the letter itself.

While press understandably struggle with re-branding issues, Chelsea’s gender-identity was uniformly accepted and supported by Free Manning activists and supporters of the obligations and rights of whistleblowers. For me personally, this post marks the last time I’ll refer to Manning as ‘Bradley’ or using the male pronoun. Regardless of the legal circumstance, we should all understand transgender difficulties enough by now to afford her at least the basic respect due any human being.

My only concern is that Chelsea’s gender dysphoria will be used by Manning’s detractors as further ammunition to discredit hugely important acts of whistleblowing which were undertaken with clarity of purpose, and which have done an enormous service to us all.

Chelsea Manning continues to have my gratitude, and my voice in defence of the puerile mockery which began mere seconds after her announcement.