The 37-year-old, who has had the hair loss condition since she was a child, said she was left shocked when a cleaner at the Trinity Square shop asked her "Are you aware you're in the female toilet?" She said she became distressed and burst into tears.

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[–] 54 points 18 hours ago (20 children)

When we were paying for parking he chased after us and gave me a bunch of flowers.

That Tesco manager chasing after Helen and her husband with flowers was a class act though.

Helen said she feels the incident in Tesco may have stemmed from the debate in recent years over transgender rights. She said: "I suspect it's stemming from this which is a shame but I think potentially why people are being more cautious.

"I can understand the cautiousness from a business point of view but they've also got to be aware of diversity and people being different. They should not make assumptions on visible differences.

"I just think that we need to raise awareness of the condition and that people do look different. If you're concerned about something ask privately or sensitively."

What is this "cautiosness" she's talking about? There has literally never been a case of a transgender person doing anything inappropriate in a public toilet..

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  • [–] 28 points 17 hours ago (9 children)

    "I can understand the cautiousness from a business point of view but they’ve also got to be aware of diversity and people being different. They should not make assumptions on visible differences.

    Isn't that exactly what the law forces though? To somehow decide based on looks alone who should be in which toilet?

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  • [–] 12 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

    Couldn't they also just not do that? Surely the law doesn't require them to hire someone to police the toilets.

    Gender neutral toilets could also get around it surely. Worked in multiple places with them and no one has ever cared.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

    Surely the law doesn’t require them to hire someone to police the toilets.

    It pretty much does. Not specifically to have someone dedicated to check everyone, but they have to take reasonable measures and a member of staff speaking up would fall under that.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 hours ago (1 child)

    Why though? Its a toilet. Couldn't they just say the sign is only suggested genders. Women can clean men's toilets still.

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  • Point is, there are malicious people, both men and women. I think there have to be security measures in order for it to be impossible (or at least, highly difficult) to do things as spying or putting hidden cameras. But of course, that shouldn't be done based only in the looks, but mostly in the behaviour. Anyone with a suspicious behaviour should be policed, but that's like something that should be taken for granted in the first place.

    Women can clean men's toilets still.

    About this, I ask rhetorically: would you also say that "men can clean women's toilets still"? I personally doubt it given a lot of previous experiences on this topic, and I believe that in such a case one must be consistent: either both or neither.

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  • [–] 2 points 17 hours ago (4 children)

    Exactly what the law enforces will differ by jurisdiction

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  • [–] 2 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

    This is not devolved and I believe the law being refered to is the one that has been clarified in the recent guidance after a supreme court decision.

    Health is normally devolved, but this is counted as "human rights".

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  • [–] 2 points 11 hours ago (1 child)

    Sire but most of "the world" OS not in the US

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  • [–] 1 point 3 hours ago

    Sorry I think we are misunderstanding each other. I was talking about the UK as this is a UK specific story and community. I assumed that you were talking about the constituent countries in the UK that have different laws in your previous comment.

    May I ask how it is you got here? - I am curious seeing as you're on a PieFed instance.

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  • [–] -3 points 15 hours ago (4 children)

    What is this “cautiosness” she’s talking about? There has literally never been a case of a transgender person doing anything inappropriate in a public toilet…

    You probably haven't seen the examples because of your social media algorithm.

    #Confirmed Convictions

    #Documented Incidents but Identity / Public Record Withheld

    Note that these are just the really public cases. They are far from exhaustive, and obviously exclude all crimes which were not reported or investigated.

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  • [–] 15 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

    And in literally zero of these cases was anyone's gender identity relevant to their crime. Raping someone is already a crime. Filming someone changing or toileting is already a crime. If a cis man goes and has a wee in the ladies' room and washes his hands and leaves, I don't care. If he's a member of the alt-right and he claims to be trans to get attention on social media, I don't care. If he rapes someone, then I care. If he films someone, then I care.

    A lot of conservatives say the only way to protect people from a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. I propose an analogous principle: One way to protect women from a raping man in the loo is to have a good man in the loo with them. By segregating the toilets, you're ensuring that the only cis men in the ladies' room are either cleaners, plumbers, or rapists. Desegregate, and there will be lots of good men going to wee in the gender neutral washroom who can stop a rapist.

    I make the above recommendation largely in jest, but the end result is something I believe in. A world where we all just go into the stall to have a wee, pull up our trousers, wash our hands, and leave. Your gender identity or what bits are inside your trousers does not have to be relevant, other than the principle that there should be a sanitary bin and a hygiene product dispenser.

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  • [–] 6 points 14 hours ago

    Oh, and one more thing: The hygiene product dispenser should be free. We all get our toilet paper for free when we poo in a public loo. I believe in universal basic toilet paper, and I believe in universal basic tampons. This is not a difficult problem to solve when we are looking at nation-scale economics. The government should just give us all toilet paper, and our choice of tampon, pad, or none of the above. If nothing else, it would reduce the number of people flushing non-degradable wet wipes. Probably save the government money, all told.

    And add bidets to the fucking building codes already! All new construction should have bidet toilet seats! With front AND back wash settings!

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