New York Mayor issues order to ensure trans people can pee in peace
The Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, has granted transgender people the right to pee without being harassed.
A number of ‘bathroom bills’ have been filed at state level across the US with the aim of banning transgender people from using their preferred toilets, frequently tied to broader anti-LGBT legislation.
Anti-LGBT activists have scaremongered by launching ads which show men raping little girls in public tiolets. Raping a child is illegal in all 50 states, and the issue has literally nothing to do with trans equality.
However, the Democratic Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio has bucked the trend – issuing an order this week that affirms the right to use the bathroom matches your gender without challenge.
The Mayor, a strong proponent of LGBT rights, signed the order which will “require City agencies to ensure that employees and members of the public are given access to City single-sex facilities consistent with their gender identity, without being required to show identification, medical documentation, or any other form of proof or verification of gender”.
Mayor Bill de Blasio explained: “Every New Yorker should feel safe and welcome in our city – and this starts with our City buildings.
“Access to bathrooms and other single-sex facilities is a fundamental human right that should not be restricted or denied to anyone. New York City is proud to enforce one of the strongest human rights laws in the country, which protects the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals to live freely and with respect.
“Today’s order makes it clear that New York City fully supports the right of every New Yorker to use the single-sex facility consistent with their gender identity.
“New York City is the birthplace of the fight for LGBT rights, and we continue to lead in that fight so every New Yorker can live with dignity.”
the city’s First Lady Chirlane McCray said: “At this very moment, Americans are bombarded with communications that go against everything New Yorkers stand for – with speeches and commercials coded to incite fear and promote exclusion.
“That type of attitude doesn’t cut it here. New Yorkers know that to safeguard our individual rights, we must stand up for the rights of others – and we will.
“Every day, no matter where they go, transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers are burdened with worry, that when they need the certainty of privacy for personal needs, it won’t be there for them.
“Today, we take a step towards equity for those New Yorkers.”
It is the latest bold move in favour of equality from New York.
The New York City Commission on Human Rights recently reinforced policies outlawing gender identity and gender expression discrimination under the NYC Human Rights Law, making it one of the strongest in the nation in protecting the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
The Mayor recently ended a boycott of the city’s St Patrick’s day parade, after a long-standing policy banning gay groups was finally dropped.
He is expected to march this year shoulder-to-shoulder with Irish LGBT group the Lavender and Green Alliance.
