NEW YORK - The line for the girls' room just got longer.Men who live as women can now legally use women's rest rooms in New York's transit system under an unprecedented deal revealed yesterday.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to allow riders to use MTA rest rooms "consistent with their gender expression," the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund announced yesterday.
The group filed a complaint against the MTA on behalf of a 70-year-old telephone repair technician who was arrested for using the women's room at Grand Central Terminal.
The technician, who is assigned to the terminal by Verizon, was born Henry McGuinness but now goes by Helena Stone.
"I'm a 24-hour woman," Stone declared proudly. "I just feel like a woman and I like to wear women's clothes."
The MTA would not comment on the settlement but Stone's lawyer said it also includes mandatory transgender sensitivity training for MTA employees and a $2,000 payment to the technician for legal fees.
Michael Sullivan, Stone's lawyer, called the settlement of the complaint with the Human Rights Commission a "milestone" toward recognition of the city law that prohibits discrimination against transgender men and women.
But some Metro-North riders at Grand Central yesterday were stunned by the ruling.
"I would not like that," said Gloria David, a retiree from Connecticut. "I have nothing against gay men or drag queens, but they can use the men's room. I just don't want to go to the bathroom next to a man."
One rider feared predators might dress as women and lurk in the women's room.
But Rena Gantz, 23, a college student, shrugged off the settlement.
"It doesn't bother me because it is a reality," she said. "If they believe they are women, they should be treated as one."
from The New York Daily News
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