Todd Herman: New transgender rule is the opposite of equality

A new rule that is supposed to give transgender people more freedom to pick a restroom and locker room that he or she is more comfortable with puts many more people in an uncomfortable position, says KTTH’s Todd Herman.

“On this case, in Washington state, we have officially seen the worm turn from a legitimate concern about equality,” Herman said. “We’ve seen it now turn into a bizarro world version of this that has nothing to do with equality, it has to do with brute force… You will be made to pretend to agree.”

Related: Former YMCA employee claims she was offered hush money following transgender controversy

The new rule that officially took effect Dec. 26 requires buildings open to the public to allow transgender people to use restrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with.

There are exceptions, including school locker rooms. The rule states that schools must “assess the use of locker rooms by transgendered students on a case-by-case basis,” and “in most cases” transgender students should be allowed into the locker room of the gender they identify with.

The News Tribune reports that Danni Askini, executive director of the Seattle-based Gender Justice League, says requiring transgender individuals to use restrooms inconsistent with their gender identity forces them into uncomfortable and potentially violent situations.

“We just want to pee in peace. We just want to go to the bathroom,” Askini told the News Tribune. “And that’s like, how fundamental and basic can that be? And we want to do that in a way that’s safe for us and that doesn’t draw unnecessary attention to us.”

Herman, who has been a staunch critic of the YMCA’s transgender bathroom policy, called the new rule “tyranny” and claims his disagreement is not related to a lack of compassion for the transgender community.

“It’s being done under the guise of non-discrimination when, in fact, how could it not harm the transgendered people?” he asked. “…How does that not ‘other’ you? It is the ultimate ‘othering.’ It is the naked representation of the ‘othering.'”

Herman added: “If this is equality that you’re seeking, if this is non-discrimination, tell that to the 99.7 percent of society who goes into the locker rooms by which their biology is attached.”

State Rep. Graham Hunt, R-Orting, shares similar concerns with Herman. He plans to introduce a bill next week that would let public or private entities limit access to gender-specific facilities &#8212 including restrooms, showers, locker rooms and saunas &#8212 for those people who have not undergone sex reassignment surgery.

“If they have genitalia that’s different from that of which the facility is segregated, they have no right of access, and the public or private entity that has the facility has the right to segregate it,” he told KIRO Radio.

Hunt said the whole idea is to prevent people who are preoperative or non-operative from accessing facilities and violating privacy concerns of others.

“If you’re saying it’s about one person’s comfort that shouldn’t take precedence over another, than why are you pushing this rule?” he asked. “Because this is saying that their comfort is over somebody else’s comfort.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.