In Houston nondiscrimination is on the line (beheadings to follow)

[sylvan8798]

Was it illegal per se for a man to enter the women's restroom in the first place? I'm not so sure that it ever explicitly was, most places. I honestly don't know for sure either way. All the laws that I'm aware of require access rather than denying it. I'm thinking it's more of an unwritten societal rule than a law in most cases (well, it's written only in terms of the sign on the door itself, anyway).

I don't think I've ever even seen a written policy regarding who is allowed in which bathroom in the past. The word on the door is pretty much all there's ever been as far as I know.

I've been at events where the lines for the Ladies room got so long that some women commandeered one of the men's rooms and started using that too. If there ARE actual laws in this regard, I would think most people don't know about them.

 

[Meadmaker]

Yeah... that was sort of my point on a lot of this too. The way that guys tend to use locker rooms, I don't think we'd even notice if there was a girl in there with us as long as she was quiet enough.

Let me think about this.

Do you ever notice someone's eye color? The shape of her nose? Whether he is short or tall? Whether she is fat or skinny? Whether she is wearing shorts or a skirt? I think you notice these things about people.

But, somehow, we are expected to believe that most people wouldn't notice whether the pubic region contained a penis and scrotum, or a vulva? (I do so wish there was a word for the female pudenda that was neither clinical nor vulgar.) Naah....no one would notice....that one piece of anatomical real estate that is more interesting than all the others.

If it is true that you never, ever, look at the genitals of the naked men you share a shower with, not so much as a sidelong glance, then you would have to be the one with the hangup. To avoid it, you would have to concentrate hard on not looking. I'm not saying you stare and I'm not saying you are consciously interested, but yes, people notice how other people of the same sex look naked, and even more so how opposite sex people look naked, and if we routinely got naked in front of each other, the space between the legs would still be a very, very, interesting part of a person's body, and we would pay attention, usually for brief glances while trying to pretend not to.

 

[Meadmaker]

I've been at events where the lines for the Ladies room got so long that some women commandeered one of the men's rooms and started using that too. If there ARE actual laws in this regard, I would think most people don't know about them.

There may not be specific laws that deal with going into opposite sex rest rooms. Janitors do it all the time. However, I am extremely confident that if a guy tries to walk in to a ladies room, on purpose, they'll find something.

I don't know exactly how "peeping tom" laws work, but if they can be applied, they will be. If he actually uses the facilities, then there's indecent exposure to be considered.

Basically, guys who try to get into ladies rooms are really creepy, and they'll find something.

On the other hand, women who use the men's room are in a hurry, practical, and not overly shy. No one wants to throw such a lady in jail.

 

[sylvan8798]

There may not be specific laws that deal with going into opposite sex rest rooms. Janitors do it all the time. However, I am extremely confident that if a guy tries to walk in to a ladies room, on purpose, they'll find something.

Toilets in stalls, sinks, towel dispensers and/or hand dryers, soap dispensers, a garbage, possibly a feminine product dispenser - although those don't seem as common now. What else would you think they would "find" there? Have you ever been in a ladies room? Not all that mysterious really.

I don't know exactly how "peeping tom" laws work, but if they can be applied, they will be. If he actually uses the facilities, then there's indecent exposure to be considered.

We have stalls. With doors. So unless he starts whipping things out the minute he enters the restroom or feels the need to wash nether parts in the sink, exposure is probably nil. At least that's the idea.

Basically, guys who try to get into ladies rooms are really creepy, and they'll find something.

On the other hand, women who use the men's room are in a hurry, practical, and not overly shy. No one wants to throw such a lady in jail.

Speaking from personal experience?

 

[Meadmaker]

Toilets in stalls, sinks, towel dispensers and/or hand dryers, soap dispensers, a garbage, possibly a feminine product dispenser - although those don't seem as common now. What else would you think they would "find" there? Have you ever been in a ladies room? Not all that mysterious really.

When I said "They'll find something.", what I meant was "they will find a law that they can use to charge him with something."

 

[ponderingturtle]

There may not be specific laws that deal with going into opposite sex rest rooms. Janitors do it all the time. However, I am extremely confident that if a guy tries to walk in to a ladies room, on purpose, they'll find something.

I don't know exactly how "peeping tom" laws work, but if they can be applied, they will be. If he actually uses the facilities, then there's indecent exposure to be considered.

Basically, guys who try to get into ladies rooms are really creepy, and they'll find something.

On the other hand, women who use the men's room are in a hurry, practical, and not overly shy. No one wants to throw such a lady in jail.

And what about say a gaming convention where the mens rooms have lines and the ladies rooms to not why shouldn't men do the same thing?

 

[BrooklynBaby]

At the old "Mistake By The Lake" where the Browns played in Cleveland, at half-time the men's room would be full of women who would use the stalls to relieve themselves. Of course, to do that meant they would be standing there waiting while men used the urinals. But, every woman who entered the men's room knew that in advance, so there really wasn't a problem. Guys who had a "number 2" in mind just had to hold it or join the girls in line.

 

[Manopolus]

When I said "They'll find something.", what I meant was "they will find a law that they can use to charge him with something."

Well it would center on his specific behavior or assumed intent while in there. It wouldn't be directly related to entry. Eavesdropping might be one possibility if he was trying to peek in the stalls or something. Some sexual harassment type laws may apply... dunno.

 

[sylvan8798]

So interesting that apparently all this time "bad men" have avoided going into ladies rooms to assault women and girls there due to a societal convention, while at the same time being willing to break societal LAWS regarding sexual assault and indecent exposure. Maybe we should forget the laws and make everything "societal conventions"?

It's bad form to murder your neighbor, people will look with disfavor on you, after all.