It’s one thing to defend someone you know on Facebook. It’s a completely different matter to take a stand for a complete stranger. That’s exactly what Steve Rudner did when he blasted the recent transgendered bathroom debate in a Facebook post on April 14.
Rudner, a Dallas father and chair of the board of directors for Equality Texas, spoke out through social media in opposition to the recent string of laws biased against transgendered individuals. Of particular interest, are the laws regarding which public bathrooms transgendered women may use. Rudner cited specifically the example of North Carolina’s HB2, which requires an individual to use a restroom according to birth gender assignment.
Rudner’s position is in agreement with the stance taken by several businesses in regards to North Carolina HB2. For example, PayPal has moved business out of North Carolina while Target has publicly proclaimed that a person can either restroom as he or she sees fit.
Rudner believes that the impetus behind such laws is the transgender bathroom predator myth: an assigned sex woman is in danger of being assaulted in the restroom by a transgendered woman. Rudner considers this fear to be irrational and unsupported, and does not worry about his daughter being assaulted in a public restroom.
In his post, Rudner states,
“I do not worry about her being attacked in a restroom by a trans woman because (a) it has never happened; and (b) trans women are the most victimized group of people that I’ve ever met, and the least likely to commit a crime of indecency in a restroom, because they are afraid of getting beat up when all they want to do is pee.”
Rudner’s post stands in opposition to the bathroom predator myth, for which there are no cases to substantiate it. Furthermore, Rudner’s post reiterates the anxiousness a transgendered woman feels when having to decide which public restroom to use.
The response to Rudner’s post has been overwhelmingly positive. It has been shared over 5,000 times. In addition, comments in support of Rudner’s opinion have been left on his post. Even Pennsylvania state representative Brian Sims praises Rudner’s speaking out on the issue.