Mapping transgender-friendly bathrooms in hostile North Carolina

2016-03-31T14:56:00-04:00

For most, the act of going to the bathroom is an unremarkable part of their daily routines. However, for transgender people, fear of harassment makes this small decision a tough obstacle. In North Carolina a recent law has been introduced requiring people to only use bathrooms that match the gender they were assigned at birth. Web designer Emily Waggoner was "devastated" by the new legislation, and decided to do something to help those in need of a safe location to use non-gendered bathrooms.

Waggoner, who grew up in North Carolina although currently lives with her partner in Boston, worried about the safety of her transgender friends back home after the state passed this new, and highly controversial, legislation.

While purporting to be in the interest of "safety," such legislation greatly increases the risk of violence for members of the transgender (and gender non-conforming) community, with little-to-no evidence (or legitimate evidence) that it makes any other group safer. In the vast majority of cases of violence involving the transgender community, trans individuals are the victims – not the other way around.

Even without specific legislation like this, transgender people face much greater risks of physical and sexual violence than those faced by cisgendered individuals. More than one in four trans people have been assaulted in their lifetime – and the rates increase when looking at trans women and trans people of color.

Using Google Maps, Waggoner has created a tool ...

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Mapping transgender-friendly bathrooms in hostile North Carolina