As a trans-woman who transitioned in 1993, and has suffered all of the #metoo “slings and arrows”,(#metoo), I think that I would have a visceral response to an obvious man coming into the ladies room. I also think that I would be able to calm myself by remembering the fear I felt nearly thirty years ago, especially if I could see it in that person.

I have those long-ago memories to temper my reaction. Cis women do not. Cis women do not.

A “gut-reaction” is never easy to ignore or override. A gut-reaction is not something that can be assuaged by a bit of logic, at least not quickly.

If you have never been subjected to the endemic, daily, insidious, depredations that women suffer at the hands of a “man’s world”, if you have never been raped, held down helpless due to vastly superior physical strength, if you’ve never had the very real threat of these things hanging over your head, like a 'sword of Damocles’, 24/7, it’s simply not within the realm of possibility that a part time cross-dresser could have any real understanding of the issue.

I know that you mean well, sir, but remember, nothing, no amount of logic, can displace decades of daily experience.

Oh, for the record, Ms. Rowling’s “word-vomit” was wrong. It was an over-extreme, visceral reaction, coming directly from the knot of terror that is in residence deep inside of her. It’s very likely that it will be there until her last breath. I give her a lot of leeway, for that reason, as I have my own knot.

Thanks for a thought provoking essay.

I explored the same subject in…

“Reapprehended thoughts on the bathroom ‘debate’.🤔” by WeeziSbaby https://link.medium.com/rqq1ZcYhl7