The urinal aspect of our national transgender conversation

Guardian

Apparently it’s really quite difficult to use a urinal – if you’re a woman. But actress Shakina Nayfack is sure going to try.

So if the men doing their business up against the wall there are suddenly joined by a busty blonde in a frock, don’t be too shocked – remember, it’s the law.

Nayfack is happily and successfully living her womanly life in New York but her birth certificate says “male”, so according to the new laws in North Carolina she is effectively banned from female public restrooms in that state.

She’s so peeved, she’s mounting a rebel tour. And from the Capitol in Raleigh to the gas stations of Greensboro and cafes of Charlotte, she plans to tinkle in men’s toilets galore, tweeting and taking selfies as she goes.

“Hovering over a urinal is actually very tricky. I’m going to need a lot of Purell,” she said.

“They are trying to create a situation where trans people are supposed to be invisible. This is an absurd, panicked reaction from the ignorant, it’s a massive step backwards, so I felt it was my duty to go down there and take selfies in as many men’s bathrooms as possible,” she said.

Eighteen months ago she traveled to Thailand for gender reassignment surgery.

The irony is that people are more likely to be uncomfortable seeing Nayfack in the men’s room, or a trans man in the women’s room, she said. She is considering recruiting security guards in each city to stand by when she uses the men’s bathroom.

“I’m not looking to confront anyone. If people want to engage me in civil discussion in a bathroom that will be fine. But if people want to come at me, I’ll tell them, well, they could suck my dick, but I cut it off,” she said.