Creating safe restrooms in Lexington

Going to the restroom isn't something that we really talk about, but that's beginning to change. 

People around the country are coming together to discuss the problem of public restrooms not being safe and welcoming to folks who are differently abled, or people who don't conform to traditional gender stereotypes. "Some folks may not think this is a terribly important issue but I beg to differ." explained KFTC member Jackson Cofer. "Many of us are afraid we will be harassed or assaulted for being in the "wrong" bathroom."

Unfortunately that does happen. On June 22, at 1:40 p.m., Lance Reyna, a transgender man, was attacked at knifepoint on the campus of Houston Community College. Reyna was attacked in a restroom by a male who said "Hey, queer!" in a falsetto voice and put a knife to his throat. The attacker then told Reyna to hand over his valuables and began beating Reyna. Once Reyna was on the ground, the attacker kicked him in the head. (Read more about this incident here).

A transgendered high school student in Vermont experienced so much harassment and threatening in the bathroom it would reduce him to tears. ""It was the fear and apprehension of possibly having to use the bathroom during the school day that caused me the most harm,â€ he said. "By eighth grade I had almost made a game out of waiting for the end of the day so I could use the bathroom at my own home," stated 16 year old Kyle Giard-Chase. (more here).

Members of the central Kentucky Chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth have decided to address this concern in Lexington by building a campaign that will push local businesses to make their restrooms more inclusive to everyone.

They had their first public meeting this past Saturday at 3pm at the Lexington pride center. 16 people came out to develop a strategy for this campaign.

The committee has formed into three subgroups; policy, education and outreach. The subgroups will spend the next two weeks coming up with a list of Lexington businesses to approach, crafting a petition and thinking of ways to educate the community about the importance of this issue.

Their next meeting is on Saturday November 20th at 2pm at the Pride center at 389 Waller Avenue #100, Lexington KY 40504.

For more information on this issue check out the following resources:

http://safe2pee.org/new/
(An interactive list of gender neutral and unisex restrooms in North America)

http://web.archive.org/web/20051017054421/http://www.pissr.org/
(P.I.S.S.R - people in search of safe restrooms)

http://noclexington.com/?p=2091(Article on KFTC's safe restroom campaign in Lexington based independent news paper North of Center)

http://srlp.org/films/toilettraining
(A documentary on the persistent discrimination, harassment, and violence that people who transgress gender norms face in gender segregated bathrooms.)

http://transgenderlawcenter.org/cms/content/safe-bathroom-access-campaign-sbac
(The Transgender law center's safe bathroom access campaign)

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=share&gid=258585557718
(Campaign for gender neutral bathrooms at DePaul)

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/10/05/D_C__Starbucks_Stores_Move_Toward_Gender-Neutral_Restrooms/
(Article on how DC Starbucks adopt gender neutral restrooms)