Superb writing -- I laughed out loud and I love a month of joy, but it's also real stuff -- every bathroom should have 'a trans person peed here and no one was hurt' on the door
I feel deeply honored (and humbled) that you shared this hysterical, brutally honest narrative. I’m a trans ally (mom to a trans kid) and will absolutely tell people if they ask - you are safe with me 💜
I love this Robin. This was a problem for my Alex at school this year and I'm sure it will be next year as well, but I'll keep Mama bear-ing the fuck out of that school and they won't get this loud mouth to shut until it's handled. Kudos to you on the progress you've made. Much love 💕
Mama (and Papa) bears keep the world moving in a better direction. Your kid is absolutely worth all the energy and love you're pouring into their safety.
Thanks so much for this, Robin!! This is a great story. Bathrooms can be really scary and uncomfortable for sure. I consider the woods to be the world's largest gender neutral bathroom. I will sometimes pee outside even if I have a bathroom option.
I've traveled to red states including Florida twice, in the past couple years, and I have noticed other trans people using the restrooms in all these places. We are here, and we are doing the best we can to be comfortable, safe, and reasonable out in public.
Thanks Robin, hilarious, sobering and poignant in equal measures. Keep drinking your tea (spoken as a true Brit!) and peeing wherever your bladder takes you I say ☀️
I wish you all the love, glitter, and disco music your heart desires - RIGHT BACK & MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Robin you're a brilliant writer - i am always smiling, panicking, feeling with you as I read your words. You make me laugh & thank you for sharing your words! 🧡
Robin, this post is so good! I love the purple bathroom. It ties this piece—a home for both its levity and gravity. It breaks my heart that bathrooms, something everyone needs, a place for the very purpose i’m finding relief, or for too many a place of fear. Thank you for sharing your story. And for those truly awesome stickers!
Thank you for sharing this great story. I spent one happy year in Toronto working on some DIY projects in a shared workspace that had a single, unisex bathroom. Large bright room, clean mirrors, row of stalls, always stocked with toilet paper and tissues to wipe your hands with. The soap smelled really nice. All manner of human beings passed me by in that bathroom, on their way towards the stalls, towards the sinks, back to their unique projects. It made me deeply question every single sensationalist story on bathrooms and genders. It was such a simple, beautiful, functional solution. I really miss that place. (Not specifically for the bathroom, hahah. They had a great selection of tools and an amazing laser cutter you could use for free. But the bathroom was a lightbulb moment for me for sure)
It feels pretty significant that something as simple as a bathroom could help us gain perspective on all the arbitrary boundaries we create as humans. Having traveled a good bit in parts of western Europe, I’ve seen a lot of unisex restrooms that are just plain function forward. I love them.
I LOVE this post!!!! Happy Pride!
Glad it gave you a smile, Skylar!
Superb writing -- I laughed out loud and I love a month of joy, but it's also real stuff -- every bathroom should have 'a trans person peed here and no one was hurt' on the door
It’s good to laugh even when things are hard. And stickers make the world a better place.
A purple toilet! In backwoods VA?! As a lover of all things purple, I want to see that bathroom. I pray it still exists.
This piece is an amazing depiction of your evolutionary relationship with the loo. I bow to you. Well done. Well done. 👍🏻
Wow, thanks, Teri!! I bet that bathroom is still there. US Highway 250. Somewhere on it. Somewhere.
my sister in law lives out that way...I might just have to go on a hunt...she loves purple almost as much as I do.
btw - I also love the quiet symbolism of the purple bathroom for you. blue and pink make purple.
The nonbinary flag has some purple in there too!
I feel deeply honored (and humbled) that you shared this hysterical, brutally honest narrative. I’m a trans ally (mom to a trans kid) and will absolutely tell people if they ask - you are safe with me 💜
Amy, I am so glad you're here. The world needs more folks like you in it.
I love this Robin. This was a problem for my Alex at school this year and I'm sure it will be next year as well, but I'll keep Mama bear-ing the fuck out of that school and they won't get this loud mouth to shut until it's handled. Kudos to you on the progress you've made. Much love 💕
Mama (and Papa) bears keep the world moving in a better direction. Your kid is absolutely worth all the energy and love you're pouring into their safety.
Oh trust me, I know it. 😁
Thanks so much for this, Robin!! This is a great story. Bathrooms can be really scary and uncomfortable for sure. I consider the woods to be the world's largest gender neutral bathroom. I will sometimes pee outside even if I have a bathroom option.
I've traveled to red states including Florida twice, in the past couple years, and I have noticed other trans people using the restrooms in all these places. We are here, and we are doing the best we can to be comfortable, safe, and reasonable out in public.
Thanks, Rey. This can be such a tough topic for us. If ever there was a place to want a peaceful refuge the restroom is it.
Thanks Robin, hilarious, sobering and poignant in equal measures. Keep drinking your tea (spoken as a true Brit!) and peeing wherever your bladder takes you I say ☀️
Thank you, Ruth! I had a whole pot of very nice tea again this morning, and we will see where it takes me!
😂🫖
I wish you all the love, glitter, and disco music your heart desires - RIGHT BACK & MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Robin you're a brilliant writer - i am always smiling, panicking, feeling with you as I read your words. You make me laugh & thank you for sharing your words! 🧡
Mohika, that is so kind of you. Thank you.
"Holly came from Miami FLA
Pee-peed her way across the USA
Emptied bladder on the way
Took a li'l dump then he was a she
Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side. "
Lou Reed, probably
Super essay, Robin. All the best for Pride!
How did I not even think about that song??
You're kidding me! It just leaped off the title for me. I supposed you wrote it partly with that song in mind. Bet it was in there somewhere...
What a great story.
Robin, this post is so good! I love the purple bathroom. It ties this piece—a home for both its levity and gravity. It breaks my heart that bathrooms, something everyone needs, a place for the very purpose i’m finding relief, or for too many a place of fear. Thank you for sharing your story. And for those truly awesome stickers!
Thanks, Holly!
Thank you for sharing this great story. I spent one happy year in Toronto working on some DIY projects in a shared workspace that had a single, unisex bathroom. Large bright room, clean mirrors, row of stalls, always stocked with toilet paper and tissues to wipe your hands with. The soap smelled really nice. All manner of human beings passed me by in that bathroom, on their way towards the stalls, towards the sinks, back to their unique projects. It made me deeply question every single sensationalist story on bathrooms and genders. It was such a simple, beautiful, functional solution. I really miss that place. (Not specifically for the bathroom, hahah. They had a great selection of tools and an amazing laser cutter you could use for free. But the bathroom was a lightbulb moment for me for sure)
It feels pretty significant that something as simple as a bathroom could help us gain perspective on all the arbitrary boundaries we create as humans. Having traveled a good bit in parts of western Europe, I’ve seen a lot of unisex restrooms that are just plain function forward. I love them.
omg I need these <3 Everyone should have them in their bag like an extra pack of tissues and just disperse them to taste <3
That is a great idea!
This was genuinely funny !!!! Thank you.
I love making people laugh!
I loved this post, your writing is a joy! I was absolutely there with you on that road trip 😄
Thanks, Cait! Road trips are the story fodder of my dreams. So many great things can happen out in the wild.
Beautiful storytelling - my bladder was twinging along with you on every twist of that childhood journey.
And such a powerful piece too. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Thanks, Christina! I hope your bladder has recovered.