Subject: Re: Can't They Just Leave Women Alone?
I don't want to be in a bathroom with men in there'..male to female trans, I don't want that male energy in a female space. There's the predatory aspect that comes from testosterone and those who would act on it. I don't feel safe, plain and simple. Men may have a different perspective on this if they haven't had any experience with fending off unwanted attention from either sex. Think of the rage killings by males who slept with a woman who turns out to be a male. Why the rage?

An excellent summary of the concerns that cis women have if trans women are allowed to use women's facilities. That "male energy" makes you feel uncomfortable, to be sure.

But then....how would you feel if you were forced to use the men's room?** Terrified....right?

After all, if the trans woman is forbidden from using the women's facilities, then she has to use the men's facilities. If having the 'male energy' of a trans woman in the ladies' room creates a feeling of unsafety, sending her into the men's locker room is a recipe for disaster. Having someone who has all of the external appearances of a woman, save for her genitalia, getting undressed or showering in a room full of men presents an enormously high risk to her.

That's the conflict of interests. It certainly can be uncomfortable for cis women to have a trans woman in the female facilities. But it is really, really dangerous to have the trans woman using the male facilities.

In that kind of conflict of interests, it's perfectly natural to more heavily weigh - and advocate for - the interests of your group. You're a cis woman, so it's not surprising that your elucidation of the interests involved will emphasize the interests of cis women. But policy-makers have to balance the interests of both groups - and the interests of public safety. If allowing trans women in the ladies locker room makes cis women uncomfortable but presents only a small risk of physical harm or violence, while forcing trans women into the mens locker room presents a much larger risk of physical harm or violence, it's easy to see why a legislature might decide the former is a better policy than the latter.

Albaby

**Sadly, this isn't as ridiculous a thought experiment as it should be. The Moms for Liberty folks would love it if they could keep lesbians out of female bathrooms and locker rooms, so that their daughters would be free from the gaze (and "grooming") of people who lusted over them. They're at least as afraid of "lesbian energy" in the ladies locker room than you are of the "male energy" of transwomen. There's no real practical way to implement such a requirement - but if they had their way, you'd be forced into the male locker rooms along with the trans women.