(Photo: KLEW-TV)
THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — A Lewison, Idaho Rosauer’s location booted Ally Robledo after she used the women’s room at the store. Rosauer’s is a grocery chain based out of Spokane, Washington.
Captain Roger Lanier of the Lewiston Police: “A male subject who was using the female restroom, and that made some women customers uncomfortable because of the appearance that a male was using their restroom . . . The store employees didn’t want any further problems, and they chose to exercise their right to trespass this individual from the business. Anyone who owns or controls their property can make that decision.”
The Transgender Law Center’s Ilona Turner: “Transgender people have the same needs and deserve the same access to public stores and facilities as others without discrimination based on who they are. They just need to go to the bathroom like everyone else.”
Robledo was given a no tresspass order. Rosauer’s corporation office had no comment.
———-
Rosauers Corporate Office 1815 W. Garland Ave. Spokane, WA 99205
Phone: 509-326-8900
Fax: 509-328-2483
email: http://www.rosauers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=246&Itemid=48
———-
———-
(Photo: KLEW-TV)
You’re welcome to share this entire article!
Follow this topic on Lexie Cannes’ Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/lexiecannes
Support this site, get the transgender-themed feature film “Lexie Cannes“ DVD here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963781332
The Guerrilla Angel Report is associated with Wipe Out Transphobia: http://www.wipeouttransphobia.com/
Categories: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights, Law Enforcement, Police, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans
LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS 
Smh
I am sorry but from the story I read on this issue, the transfemale was ” standing up ” while urinating, I find it difficult to be upset with the authorities on this issue, my sympathy is very low. Tranfemales that use womens restrooms need to conduct themselves as such ” Women ” ! If I have the wrong story then that would be a different story !
Generally I agree we trans women must behave as women do in these situation, as appropriate for our gender. But I wonder how did they know that she was standing up in this case, I don’t think that’s the main reason they booted her. Maybe they thought she isn’t passable enough.
Yeah, what are there no doors on the stalls in the restroom? I’ve never heard of a women’s public toilet where each person is exposed to the others. Sounds pretty doubtful to me!
Look at the way tyhe feet are pointing. It is easy to see feet under most stalls. This is an inexcusable thing for any Transwoman to do.
“inexcusable” is a bit strong
Stupid is a more appropriate word.
stupid is actually a more opinionated & harsh word
so if a GG was standing up to pee, would she be booted from the establishment too?
The phrase in this country is LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, and that includes the glbt community.
I’m fed up with this bathroom use nonsense.
“Liberty and Justice for all”, I would agree with that, yet the situation on the ground, in real life is almost the polar opposite of that, we have less and less justice, with more and more hate crimes being reported. I am sure that 50 or 100 years ago, there was trans in the US, using bathrooms of the “wrong” gender, was this reported or even prosecuted?
I am stunned that trans is such a crime in the US and Canada.
Maybe it’s just Ontario, but the government seems to consistently stand up for Trans people here. I haven’t heard a bad story in Canada in recent years. Please inform me if I’m wrong. Ontario already explicitly protects Trans people as a minority and they’re trying to pass a federal level bill. Even before any of this, case law usually protected Trans people as a minority under discrimination based on sex and disability (since it has a depressive psychiatric aspect for most Trans people.)
I am a transgendered male and I use the mens restroom. and I SIT DOWN to urinate. does that mean I deserve to be banned from a grocery store? NO. does that make me less of a man that I urinate while siting down? NO! some women need to keep their nose in their own stall instead of peeping into others people’s stalls while they use the restroom. nosey ass people these days. can’t even use the restroom without having eyes peeping in.
As a transperson, mtf, I would never pee standing up, omg, such a male thing to do, and not what I would do, out of fear of being “clocked” or “read” or “outed”.
I would hazard a guess, is this person not a c/d?
The fact that you would not urinate while standing has no bearing on how other trans women may feel, and your suggestion that Ms Robledo is a crossdresser is deeply insulting. Given that there are devices on sale aimed at cis females to enable standing urination, your description of it as a “male thing to do” would be laughable, were it not laced in essentialism and indicative of an internalised transphobia that is all too common in the trans community.
It is not appropriate for any person to make disparaging comments about another person’s gender identity or expression, and believe it or not, it is not necessary to have to hate the organs you were born with and wish to undergo sexual reassignment to be trans: The reality for most trans men is that surgical procedures available to them are not fit for purpose and do not provide satisfactory results, and it is common for trans men not to undergo any form of genital surgery. As a result, trans men seem to be much more understanding of the fact that a person’s body does not reflect who they are inside, and accepting of the diversity of trans bodies. It is currently impossible for trans women to undergo procedures to receive a uterus, but this point is generally ignored, and is usually only presented by those opposing trans people: it is, in fact, entirely unnecessary, as trans people have no obligations to try to become or act as though they are and have always been cis people. The only obligation you have as a trans person is to love yourself, accept yourself and do whatever you feel is necessary to feel comfortable in your own skin, and let others do the same. We have enough negativity from outside the trans community, we don’t need more from within it.
(Furthermore, being trans is not the single defining feature of a person, in the same way that you would not use the terms “gayman” or “blackwoman”, I find “transperson” to be inappropriate. Trans is an adjective and should be applied to the noun it modifies with a space between, not compounded. Frankly, I find terms such as “MtF” archaic in the way that they tie a person to their assigned sex, and would not encourage anyone to use them.)
Hi Emily,
Much of what you wrote is true, the real issue is that there is no defined fixed terms that everyone can agree on when it comes to terms. I am trans, that is preop transwoman. What term do I use that would not offend you?
I have used trans without any suffix, no gender or sexual, just plain trans, this I have found less confrontational.
The majority of females urinate sitting down, and very rarely would the need to stand and pass water be needed. Yes there are medical devices that can allow for females to pass water standing up.
I asked a question if you recall “I would hazard a guess, is this person not a c/d?” I did not the back story..
I have no objection to the term “trans”, which I find vastly superior to the widely used “transgender” and the lesser used “transsexual”, as it encompasses both, neither of which necessarily include the other. (To provide an example of this, the new generation of trans children are transsexual by virtue of birth, but due to the fact that they are able to transition at any early age, they grow up in roughly the same fashion as cis children and do not have to undergo puberties which will affect the way society perceives them: Their physical bodies are quickly brought in line with their identities, such that their experience of having their gender conflict with that which is presumed within society is only a small part of their lives, making it unlikely that they will consider themselves transgender, and may not even consider themselves anything other than men or women in their adult lives.)
The operative status of a trans person is also irrelevant, and it is generally not anybody else’s business; the status of a person’s genitals does not have any effect upon the legitimacy of a person’s identity, and by using such language you are telling others that it is acceptable to discuss trans people and think of them in terms of their genitalia. If we want society to view gender as distinct from genitals, we have to stop using terms which refer to a person’s genitals when describing their gender. When considering terminology, I think it best to ask yourself, “Does this help to empower me or to oppress me?” My answer is that terminology based on genitalia (such as “pre-op”) and birth sex (such as “MtF”) does little to empower us, and is much more effective in allowing society to oppress trans people by using these things to deny our identities.
As I noted above, compound use of trans in “transwoman” is problematic in that it defines the fact of us being trans as being an essential part of us, but it is also objectionable due to the way it suggests that trans women are not real women, but something else entirely, such as a third gender. It is important to make clear that trans people are not obligated to refer to their trans status when referring to themselves as men, women or people, and using “trans” separately reinforces this.
Back to the matter at hand, the fact that the “majority of females” sit down to urinate is a matter of mechanics and is entirely to do with the fact that the “majority of females” are cis women, which is why I described your comment as essentialist; that is, that it considers that which makes someone a man or woman to be a fixed quality or qualities. Trans women are clearly not the “majority of females” and (this is anecdotal) I know many women who would urinate standing if they were able to, hence the demand for stand-to-pee devices. When your argument is changed to refer to men, it becomes quite different and should demonstrate my point: It is probable that the majority of men stand to urinate, but not all men do, and the choice they make with regards to this does not have any bearing on their status as men; this includes trans men, who are (by virtue of mechanics) generally unable to stand to pee unless they have had surgical procedures to allow them to do so or use a stand-to-pee device.
There is no indication given in the article that Ms Robledo is a crossdresser, much as it is unclear whether she was standing to urinate or if this is potentially malicious speculation; to assume that she is a crossdresser based on either her appearance or her (supposed) decision to urinate standing is insulting as it rejects her own self-identification as a woman, which is clearly identified by her presentation and use of the women’s toilet.
This isn’t uncommon as I was accused of the same thing at a bar here in Vancouver Washington last September witch was a lie by the cis gendered bartender. I am a fulltime trans woman and Ialways sit to pee like a lady. It is just some places can’t accept us as trans women.
I have to wonder if this weren’t the case here, that someone was intolerant with her appearance and embellished what she saw to make trouble. I can’t imagine any transgendered woman being so stupid as to stand up and pee in the ladies room. In addition to humiliation, she would be courting having someone come after her violently.
Of corse we cannot know if this woman was standing or sitting – but don’t miss the point here. She used the restroom and was given a trespass notice (I don’t know how that works? She must have been detained) But what restroom does she use?
She had to pee!
What restroom does she use?
From how I interpreted the article she used the women’s room. As for how could they tell if peeing standing up or sitting– the feet. If the stall walls are the kind that have a space at the bottom, people can glance quickly to see if they are occupied. If she was standing, her toes would be facing in, likewise sitting the toes would be facing out. Even then that’s shaky to me. Women do stand, turn around and flush, redo themselves…
Let us not forget that the article says she was peeing standing up, so its only alleged. People see a trans person and if they are not accepting, they don’t see us as women but as men faking being women. What do men do when they pee, they pee standing up. I would bet you the person who said she was standing up hadn’t the foggiest and was just assuming, people do this…all the time.
Which means someone was actually taking the time to watch her feet from under the stall next to hers, which I find reprehensible, not to mention creepy. Are there actually people doing that now, in the hopes of catching a *trans* person in the act?
If some women in Lewiston Idaho did complain because they were freaked out by seeing a trans women it is wrong to punish the trans woman. I want to tell these ppl to open their eyes and look around them. Everybody is an individual and looks different in some way, GET USED TO IT AND ACCEPT PEOPLE FOR THEIR DIFFERENCES LIKE JESUS DID!!!
You lot are a disgrace! From what I’ve seen these women are raised in a situation much like the Stepford Wives. They are so artificial. They think every woman should look the same with the same hair and makeup and clothes… so boring!!! Embrace your individuality, wear what you like and stop living your lives by someone else’s rules! Some sexist prat who lived around two hundred years ago should not still be dictating how you can live today. Or anyone else. How dare you use your own ignorance and bigotry to bully someone else?!
In your own words.. REPENT!
i mean….even if she was standing…lots of women squat (and i know some that stand) to avoid germs on the toilet seat…so i don’t see that we big deal was.
It’s discouraging that, even here in the comments to a trans-centric blog, people are policing how other people pee.
So what if she stood to pee. I have gotten many dirty looks because someone will come in and see my feet the wrong way. Why? I was throwing up (Recovering from Bulimia, not easy), but they didn’t hear the vomitting, just my large feet pointed the wrong way. This is stupid. Even if she stood to pee or hell was a man…. people do need to use the bathroom and I have used men’s, my husband has used women’s… people need to get over it.