On Friday, Feb. 6, dozens of trans people gave Sen. Ty Masterson exactly what he wanted for one day. He wasn’t a fan.

Near lunchtime that day, the Kansas Statehouse cafeteria was buzzing with conversation.Trans people and a handful of allies ran into old friends or enthusiastically made new connections spanning several counties across the Sunflower State. 

The mood was an odd mixture of fellowship and heaviness as the final touches were put on signs. The artful array of poster boards, buttons and stickers covering the tables included messages such as “Protect Trans Futures” or “Let people pee in peace,” and of course, “Flush Senate Bill 244,” which included a 2-D rendering of a toilet up for the job.

SB 244, also known as the “Bathroom Bill,” gained instant national coverage when it was passed as a “gut and go” bill. That allowed a loophole wherein the Senate was not required to hear public testimony from the many it would affect.

When the news broke, a handful of trans Kansans collectively said, “OK, bet,” and organized a “pee-in.”

At 1 p.m. Feb. 6, trans people marched up to the public bathrooms and did exactly what SB 244 proposed. Bearded trans men and nonbinary people used the women’s bathroom because generally, a doctor present at their birth had erroneously predicted they would grow up to be a woman. Trans women in sparkling heels and nonbinary people chatted cheerfully as they went into the men’s room because, similarly, adults had incorrectly predicted they would grow up to be men.

I have been to my fair share of community organized rallies, protests and direct actions over the years, but this was without a doubt the calmest, most slice-of-life one I have attended. We stood in long lines to use the bathroom, then we checked our makeup, relieved ourselves, and that was it. 

This was deeply anticlimactic after individuals like Senate Majority Leader Ty Masterson, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and bill sponsor Rep. Susan Humphries have constantly made it appear as though every bathroom trip taken by a trans person is essentially a true crime episode.

Thankfully, Masterson got to experience SB 244 for a day before it was even voted into law through a veto override. Was he pleased?

Not quite. One whole week later, Masterson released a short public statement saying that “a group of radical Leftists [had] held a disgusting ‘pee-in’ protest.”

This begs the question: what do officials like Masterson actually want? We’ve given him both: how we normally use the bathroom in our everyday lives and how he declares that he wants us to use the bathroom. Since he appears to be displeased with both, one might infer that he does not want us to use the bathrooms at all.

Unfortunately, Masterson and his colleagues have continued the archaic political legacy of fighting over who deserves the basic human right of getting to relieve themselves in a public facility. 

Although America has long had public restrooms, it took more than 100 years for white women to be able to use them. It took 187 years for Black people to legally be able to use public restrooms (with questionable enforcement for many years after), and more than 200 years for disabled people to have the right to usable public bathrooms. 

Even since the 1950s, gay men have received targeted judgment and unfounded accusations over their right to pee in the same bathrooms as heterosexuals. In each case, the same propaganda strategies have been used: that it is allegedly “not proper” or that it will result in abuses as [insert your marginalized group of choice here] are “natural predators.”

Fearmongering over the alleged safety risks of peeing is so deeply American, it is hardly surprising that the modern-day politician increasingly attempts to frame transgender people as political scapegoats. Nevermind the fact that there is no data backing claims that trans people cause problems in the bathroom because of who they are (just like there wasn’t for women, Black folks, and gay men). The emotions of preconceived beliefs and weaponized falsehoods are designed to focus our attention on a nonexistent enemy. 

In the meantime, actual, well-documented lists of the rich and powerful who are confirmed predators do as they wish without any repercussion. This protective wall they have built for themselves relies on us being more interested in perpetuating our hate than seeking factual information to act on.

Yet if we are mature enough to put prejudices aside, we can admit that no single gender, race, sexuality, or disability automatically makes someone a predator. 

Additionally, if non-prejudiced concerns on overall privacy have merit, then we have an easy solution. We can implement gender-neutral bathrooms, where the stall siding and doors run floor to ceiling. These have proved to be deeply effective in providing total privacy for everyone who needs to perform the common bodily functions. It has been done before and contains clearer guidelines as opposed to the vague nature of SB 422. This would be better for budgets, better for faster stall availability during high-traffic events, and it would allow added precaution without removing a basic human right.

This is the true type of respect and safety that all Kansans deserve.

— Amy Helmer is a home health PCA with a history of social service work. They reside in Lawrence, where they spend their time collaborating in community advocacy, education and the arts. In their spare time, they enjoy writing poetry in coffee shops, birdwatching, and visiting bookstores under the guise of simply browsing.

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