Problems with Toby's law

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I do think there needs to be better vetting of people who claim to be transgender and the claim that a heterosexual man would never pretend to be transgender to take advantage is clearly false:

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/02/15/sh ... -is-flawed

I think the point made was that there were no documented cases.

One case in 15 years probably doesn't justify throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

The problem is that activists both within and without the community have long made the argument that these laws are never abused (i.e. they put it in such strong absolute terms). At first, I felt nervous about such absolutism, but went along with it anyway.

Now we see that it was a huge mistake and our community could face a backlash.

One the one hand, 1 case in 15 years is very low. On the other hand, now that it's out there as a succesful way to prey on women for men willing to fake it, copycats are inevitable. There does seem to be a pattern with some crimes that the first case is an unprecedented shocker and then more and more messed up people jump on that bandwagon. It happened with school shootings which never used to happen even though guns have been ubiquitous in the U.S. since before it was the U.S.

Hopefully they won't throw out the law but rather revise it to screen out predatory men who are faking it by wearing female clothes and claiming to be transgender. Perhaps some sort of medical documentation could be required.

The transgender community needs to take the initiative in coming up with an unacceptable, or we'll have one come up with we WON'T find acceptable, and it'll become widespread and in place for at least a generation.

That law is the dumbest crock of shite I've ever seen.

If you still have your male parts, your still have your male parts.
If I am able to get breast implants/transplants, this law would make it possible
for me to claim to be transgender. I could just be a guy with breasts.
There are probably straight women who are into that kind of thing or kink, but
it doesn't mean I should be able to do that if I have breasts and my twig and berries.

I know one argument against is that you often can't tell the difference between a transgender woman and a man pretending to be transgender, and there are also issues with definition, as why shouldn't any man who claims to be a transgender woman be considered a transgender woman? Is it because of the crimes he commits, but then can't transgender people commit horrible crimes, too?

Basically, if you're well past puberty when you start hormones, as a trans woman, your appearance isn't going to change all that much; in order to get a really changed facial appearance, for example, you would generally need facial feminization surgery, an expensive procedure covered in very few plans, even in a tiny minority of those plans that would cover sex reassignment surgery. So by appearance, if you, a transgender woman, presenting as a woman, long been on hormones but still looking like a man, just step in out of the blue as would be the case when you would just show up at a women's shelter, how on God's green earth are they going to tell the difference between you and a predatory man who has never been on hormones and also just stepped in out of the blue, presenting as a woman, at a women's shelter?

These are important points.

Interesting point on requiring medical proof:

http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2014/0 ... ing-board/

1. Some jurisdictions such as Quebec, as well as parts of the United States, allow transitioning women, or ones that don't want the dangerous SRS/GRS/GCS surgery the right to change genders while still having the "male parts". Thus, a legally state recognized woman with "male parts" should not be denied the rights of a woman ???

2. Article: Quebec legislators amend bill to make it easier to legally change gender

"The Quebec National Assembly passed an amendment Dec. 6th to its civil code removing the stipulation that persons wanting to legally change their gender identity must first undergo sex-change surgery".

"After the amendment, Quebec’s Civil Code maintains the requirement that only Canadian citizens 18 years or older and living in Quebec for at least one year can apply to have the sex appearing on their identity documents changed. But the code now reads that the change “may in no case be made dependent on the requirement to have undergone any medical treatment or surgical operation whatsoever."

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/quebec ... nge-gender

3. EDIT: It might even be a crime for legally gender marker changed, trans women with "male parts" to use the men's facilities.

That's the conundrum that Toby's Law doesn't seem to address. Now that it's out there that a predatory man merely has to put on a dress and call himself female in order to get into theoretically safe and private spaces for women, other predatory men will undoubtedly give that a try. The idea that no non-trans man would ever attempt this is clearly wrong. And just ignoring it as a one-off is unwise too. Once an idea is out there, others try it.

So the conundrum is how to tell that a transwoman is legitimately what she says she is. Clearly her say-so is not enough. My idea is to add something to the drivers license. Even without surgery, there have to be doctors involved. My idea is that a person would have to get documentation from their doctor that they had been living as a woman for 1 year/ been taking hormones for 6 months (or whatever parameters a revised law decided on). They would take this documentation to the motor vehicle registry to get a T addendum on their drivers license where the gender is stated. When transition is complete it would be changed to F (or to M, for female-to-male). This modified drivers license would be required for entry. That way, the guardians of safe houses and locker rooms wouldn't have to rely on looks or say-so.

Of course, the question then turns to, How to make sure trans people can get access to this care? A trans woman in the States, at least, who would require the services of a women's shelter is not likely to have access even with health insurance, because of the exclusions against any and all transition-related care in health plans. These exclusions exist in Medicaid in most states, as well.

If you have a penis and testicles you are a man, if you have a vagina you are a woman.
Breasts can be on a man if he wants them, I don't care.
You can't be a woman if you have a penis or testicles.
You can't be a man if you have a vagina.
When people choose to change their gender, they need to know they will have to deal with these problems.
The law is fubar, but I understand it can be hard for some people.
My suggestion is just to save up to get the whole surgery with access to a private bath, say hotel room,
or change the law so they can use the bathroom of their choice.

The fact is that there have been two reported, publicized cases of women abused by predators using this opportunity.

As we know, all sexual assault is very under-reported.

I personally believe that there are many more cases that the victims have not told anyone about.

In California, any boy in any school, of any age, can use any girl's restroom, just by stating that he identifies as a girl.

If I were a parent, I would be terrified.

How can the school systems continue to be distressed that so many people are home schooling?

I discuss this matter on my blog:

http://beneficii.blogspot.com/2014/02/a ... takes.html