Police force transgendered woman forced to urinate in a cup

By Benjamin Cohen • March 1, 2006 - 0:00

Helena Stone claims that she is now forced by the authorities to urinate in a cup in her office.

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A transgendered telephone engineer from New York has claimed that she was arrested three times in the past six months by transport police for using the women's toilets. She claims she is now forced to urniate in a plastic cup.

Helena Stone, 70, who is undergoing treatment for a gender chance from male to female said that a police officer called her: "a freak, a weirdo and the ugliest woman in the world." She was told: "If I ever see you in the women's bathroom, I'm going to arrest you."

"I said, 'That's the only bathroom I use,'" Ms Stone told a rally held in her support. "That's who I am."

Tom Kelly of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said that charges against Ms Stone would be dropped. "There is an investigation into how this took place, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to avoid a similar situation in the future," Mr Kelly.

"We're delighted to hear the offer," said Silverman, who joined Stone and about 20 supporters across from Grand Central on 42nd Street.

Ms Stone worked for for the Americian telecoms provider Verizon and its predecessor for 37 years and has been in transition from male to female for 10 years.

She was arrested on disorderly conduct charges on three occasions at the city's Central Station, where she has been repairing public telephones.

Ms Stone claims that she is now forced by the authorities to urinate in a cup in her office.

Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defence and Education Fund said that he had filed a complaint on to the New York Commission on Human Rights, whose guidelines say that toilets must be available to transgender people "consistent with their gender identity or gender expression."

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