A Man in the Ladies Room

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Earlier when I was at the ER, sitting in the waiting area waiting to be discharged, I witnessed a bit of a scuffle between a man who looked to be in his 60s and a hospital security guard. The older man had tried to go into the ladies restroom and the security guard came over and told him to get out. The man became defiant, saying that a law had been passed that gave him the right to go into the women's bathroom if he pleased. I had watched the man come into the ER lobby and he had copped an attitude with the security guard as soon as he came in, so it seemed to me like he was just looking to stir up trouble. There's a lot of people in our area who act like this, usually because they are on drugs or are from the ghetto, and these sorts especially like to hang out at the local ER because it's right in their neighborhood and they go there trying to get pain meds. Anyway. This guy tried to go in the ladies room, the security guard said "nuh-uh," and the guy got all defiant. The security guard stood his ground and made him use the men's room. As far as I could tell, this was not a transgender person -- this was just an old dude from the ghetto who wandered in looking to stir up trouble. He was very manly and if he had sauntered into the ladies bathroom while I was in there, I would have been concerned. I don't mind sharing bathrooms with trans women or even gender neutral people, but I do take issue with males who are obviously presenting as men coming into the ladies room just because they can. I think this is the gray area people worry about, because you will have creeps and weirdos who abuse these nondiscriminatory bathroom policies. But women aren't even supposed to say anything if a man comes into the restroom because we're not to "assume one's gender" -- he might feel like a female but not be presenting as one, after all. (Or he might just be a creep.) I think people should use common sense and use the bathroom that most closely matches their physical appearance. And men who are dressed very "manly" need to stay out of the ladies room, because who knows what their intentions are. When a dirty old man comes wandering into the women's restroom, it can be a cause of fear and anxiety for anyone in there, and also pose a safety risk. We can't read minds, after all, and a defiant bearded fellow with a baseball cap wandering into the ladies room doesn't exactly give off the impression that "I'm just here to pee."