Here we go again.
A woman in Danbury, Connecticut was assailed in the women's restroom at the local Wal-Mart by another woman who yelled at her for being in the wrong restroom.
The thing is, she is a cisgender woman.
DANBURY - Aimee Toms was washing her hands in the women’s bathroom at Walmart in Danbury Friday when a stranger approached her and said, “You’re disgusting!” and “You don’t belong here!”
After momentary confusion, she realized that the woman next to her thought - because of her pixie-style haircut and baseball cap - that she was transgender.
If this occurred in a state with a "bathroom bill" on the books, it's within the realm of possibility she could have been detained by law enforcement until proving she is a cisgender woman through means I don't want to fathom.
As you may recall, another cisgender woman in north Texas was recently confronted in the women's restroom at a medical center by a man who thought she was transgender based on the way she dressed.
Can you tell the difference between a transgender person and a cisgender person? Maybe. In most cases, probably not. It's not for anyone to say how you should or should not look and, as I said at the time after the woman in Texas was confronted, we're going to see many cases of mistaken identity while transphobia grips the right wing. People who wouldn't have even taken a second look in the past are now looking over their shoulders for the transgender predators that conservative politicians swear exist (they don't) and are going to assault or peep on you.
I have no doubt these cases of mistaken identity are occurring far more often than we see published in the news and actual transgender people are undoubtedly facing higher scrutiny in their daily lives than they faced before the Right launched a legislative war against their bodies.
The hat Aimee Toms is wearing in the above photo is the same hat she was wearing when she was confronted at Wal-Mart.
Obviously, even if Toms were transgender, that wouldn't give anyone the right to tell her which bathroom to use.