Transgender residents living under bathroom ban reflect on Sarah McBride controversy

Transgender residents of Odessa, Texas, have been banned from using single-sex bathrooms in public buildings that align with their gender identity.

Alexander Ermels, a transgender man, made the decision to start using the men’s room after he experienced a negative reaction to being in the women’s bathroom — which he would be forced to use under Odessa’s bathroom policy.

“I hadn’t even started hormone therapy yet the first time I had a negative argument in the women’s room,” said Ermels, who serves as president of LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG’s Midland and Odessa chapter. “I don’t want to make women uncomfortable, that’s never been my goal, and I use the men’s room because I don’t want to make women uncomfortable.”

In Odessa, the passage of an amendment to a city ordinance in October declares any person using a bathroom, locker room or changing room in a city building — including community centers, libraries, airports, park facilities and administrative office buildings — to not conform to their gender as assigned at birth, could be convicted of a Class C misdemeanor and punished by a fine of up to $500.

People who violate the rule and refuse to leave a public bathroom can also be sued for “statutory damages in an amount not less than $10,000 for each violation of this ordinance.” according to the decree. The order lists exceptions for children or anyone offering emergency assistance.

For transgender and non-binary Odessa residents who have lived under this rule, the recent decision by House Speaker Mike Johnson to reserve congressional bathrooms based on one’s gender assigned at birth comes as no surprise. His mandate comes as newly elected Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, prepares to begin serving her constituents.

Johnson’s statement, issued Nov. 20, reads: “All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex. It is important to note that each member’s office has its own private restroom , and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol. Women deserve women’s only spaces.”

Ernels argues, “It’s not that they think I should use the women’s room, it’s that they think I shouldn’t exist.”

He continued, “America has tried to do this with other minorities before, for things like segregating bathrooms for black and white people, for the vitriol that’s happening in the media right now for immigrants, for specifically Hispanic immigrants, it’s not about safety and it’s not about kids, it’s about something that they really don’t like and they want you to stop it.

Supporters of those restrictions, including Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, argues that single-sex bathroom policies are important for women’s safety and privacy: “I have PTSD from the abuse I suffered at the hands of a man and I know how vulnerable women and girls are in private spaces so I will absolutely 100% stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a ladies room, in our locker room, in our locker room,” Mace said in a statement. “I will be there fighting you every step of the way.”

Odessa Councilman Chris Hanie, who voted for the local ordinance change, argued, “I don’t care who you are and what you do in the privacy of your home is your business, but I don’t need to see it in public,” said According to Hanie to the Texas Tribune.

However, trans people say the narrative surrounding “fear” and “personal safety” regarding trans people’s use of bathrooms is rooted in discrimination. They argue that transgender people are not inherently dangerous and are actually more likely to be victims of violence than cisgender people.

A study in the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy was unable to find evidence that trans-inclusive policies on toilets, lockers and changing rooms increase safety risks or related crime.

McBride has said she will follow congressional rules on bathroom use.

“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” McBride said in an online statement. “I am here to fight for Delawareans and to lower costs for families. Like all members, I will follow the rules outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”

Diego Miguel Sanchez, who in 2008 became the first openly transgender senior staffer in Congress, told ABC News that he remembers being welcomed by members of Congress who assured him that they intended to “make sure that you are as sure as absolutely anyone else that we’ll make sure no one bothers you while you’re here.”

“It didn’t shock me, but it was kind of a welcome that I didn’t expect,” Sanchez said. “There are people all over Capitol Hill who welcome us, and they’re still there because I still see them when I visit them every other week.”

Sanchez worked as a senior policy advisor to Congressman Barney Frank until Frank’s retirement in 2013. He was disheartened to learn that McBride was being specifically targeted in the effort to limit bathrooms.

“For the community to be moved to a place of public acceptance and then to be shut down in a way like it’s criminalized, like we’re criminals, that’s absolutely unacceptable,” Sanchez said.

Nycole Roulette, a transgender woman born and raised in Odessa, said she harbors fear when it comes to using the bathroom in public: “It’s not fair because (Odessa) is also my home.”

She told ABC News that she uses a unisex single-person bathroom at the back of her workplace or waits until she’s home for the day because she fears the potential for discrimination or violence. Advocates argue that this is what the workday could look like for any transgender or non-binary employee or for trans guests on Capitol Hill.

Waiting to use the bathroom can have unwanted effects, including urinary tract infections and bowel and bladder problems, according to The Working Environment Administration.

“I don’t know if it’s someone else I work with or it’s just a guest who eats with us who can clock me at any given time and just because I’m walking funny or my feet are a little too big — a lot of things run through the trans person’s head,” Roulette said.

Odessa residents argue that people of all identities — transgender or not — will be scrutinized under bathroom bans for how they present their gender “if you don’t match their idea of ​​what we should look like,” said Pauline Williamson, the deputy director. President of Price Center West Texas.

On Nov. 21, the mayor-elect and new city council said the controversial Odessa bathroom ordinance will not be actively enforced because it “creates the potential for lawsuits to be filed against the city.”

“The ordinance contains language that city staff has deemed unenforceable, and based on feedback received from citizens, the new mayor and council members have expressed a desire to revisit this ordinance,” Mayor-elect Cal Hendricks’ office said in a statement . “They want to acknowledge the safety concerns that were the origin of this ordinance, but they feel there is a way to craft a fair and just policy for all Odessans.”

Eli Hilbert, an Odessa resident who uses both he/him and they/them pronouns, implores lawmakers to focus on “real issues,” not on “who’s in the bathroom.”

“We have real problems as a city and the City Council has not addressed them,” Hilbert said.