Brazilian city may require transvestite bathrooms

[Thom Little]

A bill passed by the Nova Iguacu city council on Tuesday would require night clubs, shopping malls, movie theaters and large restaurants to provide a third type of bathroom for transvestites. Mayor Lindberg Farias will decide whether to make it a law.

"A lot of lawmakers didn't want to deal with this issue, but it's a serious problem in society," said city Councilman Carlos Eduardo Moreira. "It's a way to put an end to prejudice."

Moreira, a 32-year-old policeman on leave from the force, said he got the idea when dozens of transvestites showed up for a local samba show.

"It was a real problem. The women didn't feel comfortable having them in the ladies' room, and the men didn't want them in their bathroom either," said Moreira, who is married and the father of two children. "I'm not doing this for my own benefit."

He said the "alternative bathrooms" could also be used by men or women who didn't mind sharing space with transvestites.


http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/13406646.htm

[dogtag]

1. You can't be too thin or too rich or have

too many bathrooms!

[HeeBGBz]

2. Rightio!

I applaud their achievement.

[mechanical mandible]

16. I bet folks in San FranFreako like this idea! Boy what a waste of money.

There has to be some sort of corruption, her. Boy those plumbers in Brazil must have some lobbyists.

[UncleSepp]

20. BWAHAH! Great satire!

You hit the conspiracy-theorist nail right on its flat head. Brilliant! It's the plumber's agenda!

[mitchtv]

23. Yup ,San Franciscans believe in toilets too

They can export one to Texas if you'd like

[meow2u3]

3. I can just picture the signs on the bathroom doors

Men, Women, Other.

[fshrink]

12. Would me more: Men - Women - ?

[Renew Deal]

duet

:dunce:

[Renew Deal]

4. This is bad.

Are we going to have a bathroom for every type of person out there just because some people aren't "comfortable?" I'm not comfortable with gypsies in Greece. Can they have their own bathrooms now?

[dogtag]

5. ANYTHING that forces the creation

of more bathrooms at public venues is a good thing. I'll be happy to pose as a transvestite or a gypsy if it would help.

[Renew Deal]

6. I've used the womans room

when the line is too long. ;)

[MadisonProgressive]

10. That's the right answer!

There can never be too many bathrooms.

[UncleSepp]

21. This is good.

Dedicating a bathroom in a public facility over a certain size that's gender-irrelevant - an "anybody" bathroom - is a nice convenience that doesn't take anything away from anybody. Done properly, it would also be a good bathroom for a mom to take a son in, or a father a daughter.

[nine23]

7. I was in Brasil last year...

Not in Nova Iguacu, but in Rio, São Paulo and Florianopolis. In Rio especially, I've never seen so many transvestites in my life (and I've lived in the West End of Vancouver for 25 years, where it's kind of a "mini" Rio Carnival every night of the week).

It didn't really matter if I (male) or my partner (female) were using our proper/respective bathrooms; transvestites there used both. Kind of "equal opportunity", 50/50, no set pattern. I didn't bother us at all, but i can see it maybe being a problem in shopping malls, etc. so I think it's probably a good move.

And to the poster above: it's too bad you have such a fucking hate-on for Gypsies, esp. when there's no gender issues involved, and you don't even live there. Just pure ethnic hatred/racism. What a dickhead.

[ret5hd]

8. BAM! nailed it!

[Thom Little]

9. The gypsy comment sure looked like sarcasm to me.

[nine23]

11. Well, it sounded like a false analogy/"sarcasm that backfired" to ME.

It also sounded suspiciously like another one of those "why is everything so PC" trolls. And the motherfucker's never been to Brasil either, otherwise s/he would've offered up something a little more intellegent/on topic.

Edited to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

[Renew Deal]

14. How do you know that I have never been to Brasil?

And how many times have you been to Greece? :shrug:

[Renew Deal]

17. .

[Renew Deal]

13. Brilliant argument

Well worded. Obviously you are what I am.

[VegasWolf]

15. The third bathroom will have the coke lines in it! nt

[justgamma]

18. I worked with a guy for 3 years, when he started his sex

change. We knew him for years as a guy and a couple of years as a woman. The restroom thing was uncomfortable for everyone. Luckily, there was a small bathroom that nobody used and the company cleaned it up so he could use it. We all worked with his parents, too. Everybody accepted him for who he was. Just an all around nice person.

[WindRavenX]

19. Most clubs nowadays in NYC/Boston have uni-gender bathrooms

I like that idea. Rather than segregating people, just have 'em all in the same place. Never bothered me.

[UncleSepp]

22. FARK has a hilarious headline on this

♫ Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand ♫ But when she takes a leak, there's penis in her hand ♫ Can't use the restroom of a woman or a man ♫ So Rio's gonna build her own transvestite can ♫


http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1810297

Pretty funny (and at least at first, surprisingly enlightened) discussion.

[dsc]

24. I can honestly understand females not wanting pre op transvestites

in their bathrooms. I know it isn't fair to the transvestites but most females are going to have a problem with a male looking person being in their bathroom and I can see their point. I don't know the best solution to it, maybe seperate bathrooms, but I can see a problem. I think it is less of a problem for people going from female to male, as I doubt most guys care. I know I wouldn't.

[Meldread]

25. Hmm... I'm on the fence about this.

"He said the "alternative bathrooms" could also be used by men or women who didn't mind sharing space with transvestites."

When I first read the headline I was rather shocked. My mind immediately flashed back to separate black/white bathrooms, but after reading that it is a bathroom for EVERYONE... well... I am still a tad on the fence, but I can certainly see the usefulness of it.

I know I certainly wouldn't mind a "gays only" bathroom, at least in service stations and other places where I travel on long road trips. The straight bathrooms are dirty as hell, and I feel like I need a shower just after WALKING into one. :p

Anyway, I am curious as to how those who are Transgendered feel about this. Does it feel like discrimination, or would this be something that is welcomed? I am still on the fence, I can see both the pro and the con for Transgendered people, but I am not a Tran so... How does this make you guys feel?

[UncleSepp]

28. I like the idea

I feel bad going into a ladies' on a night when I can pass pretty much as male, but I don't generally use the men's for practical reasons - men's bathrooms aren't equipped to deal with feminine hygeine products, for example, and I still need them. I like unisex bathrooms just fine. Adding a unisex bathroom would seem to be fair all the way around.

[mockmonkey]

26. This is confusing

Transvestites (cross dressers) are not the same as Transgendered. I'm not sure who they are referring to in the article.

[Meldread]

27. I think it is referring to both. -nt-