Protestors Oct. 25 at Port Authority.
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By TRENTON STRAUBE
Monday, October 30, 2006
"One, two, three, four! Let us in the bathroom door! Five, six, seven, eight! Port Authority: Stop the hate!"
A group shouted the chant Wednesday, Oct. 25, outside Port Authority to protested the Oct. 3 arrest of three transgendered women who used the women’s rest room. The charge, issued by Port Authority officials, was trespassing.
Yasmina Rodriguez, Kailah Hayes and Britney J. Spears, the three women who were arrested, are clients of Sylvia’s Place, a shelter for homeless LGBT Youth, which is affiliated with Metropolitan Community Church.
Michael Silverman, general counsel and executive director for The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, is representing the three transgender women. "The first step is that the criminal charges have to be dropped," he said. Silverman added that Port Authority police and employees must be made aware of the city’s human rights laws, which state that trans people may use the restroom consistent with their gender expression.
In addition, Silverman said, Port Authority employees should undergo sensitivity training, especially in regard to transgender issues.
Rodriguez, Hayes and Spears claim they were not only arrested, but also publicly humiliated and harassed by the officers. "The captain said, ‘I wouldn’t want my wife going into the restroom with you things,’" Rodriquez recalled. "And when one of my friends said, ‘I am a lady,’" the officer responded, "‘That’s only because you’re pumped up with chemicals.’"
Silverman said that an officer asked the women to "shake their breasts" for the officers. "Can you imagine if this would have happened to a young heterosexual woman?" he noted.
Openly gay state Sen. Thomas Duane joined the protesters. "I can’t believe that [Port Authority] doesn’t know that in New York City, trans people are afforded civil liberties."
"We’d like to let institutions of power know that they’re not getting away with this," said J.D. Melendez, a counselor at Sylvia’s Place who participated in the protest. "People have the assumption that we [the LGBT community] have reached equality, but we have a long way to go. We hope to raise awareness about this."
As of Wednesday afternoon, a suit against Port Authority has not been filed. Sen. Duane is conducting a meeting between the related parties.
"The time for negotiations has passed," Duane said, adding that they are demanding Port Authority follow their suggestions.
Both Duane and Silverman are hopeful that the meeting will be productive. "A law suit is the last resort," Silverman said.
Silverman had represented a similar case against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. (See story on opposite page.) That Grand Central case was settled last week. The MTA adopted a policy to allow people to use the rest room consistent with their gender expression; MTA implemented a transgender sensitivity training program; and the plaintiff received $2,000 in damages.
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