Pervert in the Bathroom

Some time ago, I met my first transgender youth.  I was presiding in Juvenile Court when a delinquency case was called.  He was born “Karen”, but now chose to be called “Jason”.[1]  I don’t think I have ever met a person who was sadder than Jason.  He had had more than one suicide attempt and more than one assault on his record.

The first hearing, the county attorney and probation officer called him Karen – which was his legal name noted on the juvenile petition.  I addressed him as Jason, and tried my best to give him some hope.

I saw Jason on and off over the next half-year or so, and the last time I saw him, he actually smiled, for the first time.  He was back at home and doing fairly well. 

Then, as with just about all the cases, I never saw Jason again.  People come into my professional life for 15 minutes or 15 months and then we each move on with our respective lives.  I wonder how Jason (and many other folks who have shared a courtroom with me at one time or another) is doing.  I likely will never know.

This encounter, however, leads me to believe that transgender people, especially transgender youth, are not a threat to anyone but, perhaps, themselves.  They are almost universally the victim rather than the perpetrator. 

The real threat in the bathroom is like the Sibley County man many years ago who had gone into the men’s room at a restaurant, crawled up into the suspended ceiling to peep into the women’s bathroom.  He was discovered when he crashed through the ceiling in the women’s room.

It is the pervert who has no sexual identity issues who is the threat in the bathroom.  We have laws to prosecute such persons, and law enforcement and prosecutors do so, to the full extent of the law.

I have a hard time believing a teenage boy would pretend to have a female gender identity in order to get his jollies in the ladies’ room.  Such a male would subject himself to ridicule and bullying by his peers and would soon be brought to the attention of school and legal authorities. 

Instead of discriminating against a transgender youth who, seriously, has enough other issues on his/her plate, we should show a little kindness and respect.  Instead of making his/her life more difficult, we can, should, must take steps to make it a little more bearable.

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[1]  The names have been changed.