Upon reading the headline, I’m guessing that the first reaction among many of you was something along the lines of, What? You mean they didn’t already? Because if there’s one place in the country which has traditionally been on the forefront of the SJW movement it’s San Francisco. How did they not already have a sizable tranche of laws in place mandating what people do in bathrooms, showers and locker rooms? But shocking as it may seem, they didn’t, and the City Supervisor is on the job, setting things to rights. (Time Magazine)
On Monday, San Francisco Supervisor David Campos took the first substantive steps toward changing that when he announced plans to introduce a bill that would make many city bathrooms gender-neutral.
The measure would mandate that all single-occupancy bathrooms in the city be relabeled as places for all genders, rather than solely “men” or “women,” and that new buildings constructed in the city have a gender-neutral bathroom on each floor. The bill would also go beyond similar laws in other cities by putting in place sweeping enforcement mechanisms, including a complaint process handled by the Human Rights Commission, an LGBT rights organization, and adding these facilities as a standard checklist item for building inspections.
The measure, which is expected to pass easily, will add San Francisco alongside Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, D.C., West Hollywood, Calif. and Austin, Texas, to the list of cities with gender-neutral bathroom provisions.
This is one of those good news bad news stories and anyone who’s been following the parallel battles around the nation can likely spot the fly in Dave Campos’ ointment right out of the gate. First the good news: if this is implemented as worded it’s really of no matter to anyone and won’t cause any problems. The wording of the proposal simply says that a single user bathroom which is unisex must be provided in government and public spaces. So what? Do you know what the difference is between a ladies room with a single stall / sink and a gender neutral bathroom with one stall and sink? You tear the sign off the door. When the door is locked it’s occupied. When it’s not, you open the door, go inside, lock the door and use it regardless of your gender. No fuss. No muss. No problem. My doctor’s office has two of them just like that and it’s never been an issue.
Now for the bad news. The Social Justice Warriors will never in a million years be satisfied with that type of statute and Campos is probably already getting an earful over it. You see, the San Francisco proposal is far too sensible. If, in some larger office or facility, you have a ladies room, a men’s room and a single user, gender neutral bathroom, that doesn’t achieve the actual goal. The purpose of the SJW efforts on this front is not to just make sure that there’s a space where everyone can feel comfortable and get along. You must be made to care and to participate. There has to be a ladies room specifically designated for women and if there is a guy who dresses like a girl (I’m sorry… self identifies as one) they must be allowed to go in there no matter what the actual women think about it. Anything short of that is unacceptable and the City Supervisor is going to learn that lesson very quickly.
Best of luck to Dave Campos. It was a valiant try, Dave, but I’m afraid you’re not cut out for life in 21st century San Francisco. (Or most other cities outside of Houston for that matter.)
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