(Source: jonesinforjosie, via notyrqueer)
(Not the best pic of the back,but…) Vest I’ve been working on here and there for a few months. It’s finally ‘finished’ enough to wear, but I’ve got more studs and patches waiting to go on it!
Everything is hand stitched, hand embroidered, hand studded… I even made my plugs.
story time
The people who own the Citadel are cis. It’s a fact. Just putting it out there.
In the past few years, they’ve been doing their homework, though. On the opening night at the new location, boything & I were working the door when a volunteer rushed up, slightly panicked, looking for pen and paper.
The volunteer explained. ”Someone put gendered signs on the bathrooms!” Already this person was working on making new bathroom signs. ”Who would DO that? WHY would anyone even do that? Quick, I need to make some toilet/urinal signs before Phil sees what happened. He’ll be so pissed if he saw that!”
Phil, of course, is one of the cis co-owners of the Citadel. It honestly warmed my little heart to hear he’d be angry that someone tried to gender the bathrooms.
[TRIGGER WARNING RAPE] Question for other survivors: Do you think you have the capacity to consent while triggered?
Because I don’t. Probably less so than if I were drunk.
ETA: Thanks for all your answers.
Safe Restorooms in the San Francisco Bay Area (A Long Overdue Update)
To a lot of people, going to the bathroom isn’t really something that requires a lot of deep thought. One simply feels the need to go, finds a bathroom they can use, and go. But if a person has an identity within the trans universe (transgender, transsexual, gender queer etc), the decision making process might be more complicated. I know when I need to go to the bathroom and I’m in a place without a gender accessible bathroom I regularly have to decide whether to choose the one that’s safer but requires me to deny everything I know about myself, or the one that’s closer aligned to my identity but puts me at great risk for being accused of sexual harassment if not worse. No one should ever have to make that decision.
In my ideal world, all bathrooms would be gender neutral, but since that won’t happen any time soon, I’ve decided to embark on the project of making note of all the gender neutral bathrooms in the Bay Area. I realize that this is a big task, and that can’t possibly do this alone. This is how you can help,if you so choose: when you are in an establishment that has a gender neutral bathroom, simply make note of the name of the establishment, the address, and what it takes to use the facility (does one need to buy anything? Does it have a key? Etc).
Obviously, in a time when so many horrible things seem to be happening to trans* folks, there are going tone people who feel that being able to use the bathroom hardly qualifies as a pressing issue. My only reply would be, if a person can’t even take care of such a basic human need of being able to securely relieve oneself, how is one expected fo safely live in the world?
I thank you for reading this. For those who choose to help with this project, I’d like to thank you for helping make change happen.
(Also, please feel free to go to - http://safe2pee.org/new/ for additional resources).
SF Citadel 181 Eddy Street (near Taylor). No key necessary. No key necessary. There two restrooms; one of them has urinals. Both are gender neutral.
Wicked Grounds 289 8th Street (near Folsom). Bathroom is for customers only. The key is hung on the side wall to the left of the bathroom.
Escape from New York Pizza 508 Castro Street ( btwn 18th and 19th). No key needed. Bathroom is in the back behind the counter and is for customers only.
Castro Country Club 4058 18th Street (btwn Castro & Hartford). Key is at the beverage counter. Walk straight through to the back and ask the barista for the key. Facility is for customers only).
San Francisco LGBT Center 1800 Market Street (near Octavia). Ask the front desk staff for location of the bathroom and for they key.
Simple Pleasures Cafe 3434 Balboa street (near 36th Avenue). No key necessary. Purchase Encouraged.San Francisco Conservatory of Music 50 Oak St. (btwn Franklin & South Van Ness). No purchase necessary. There are locking, single occupant, ‘unisex’ bathrooms on every floor except the ‘Cafe Level’ and the 5th floor.
SF City Hall First floor, towards the rear/left of the building if you enter from civic center. They have security checkpoints at the entrances, but it’s open to the public.
Cafe Van Kleef 1621 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland. On weekends there’s a small cover, and there can be a long line since there’s only one toilet in the whole place.
First Unitarian Church 685 14th Street, Oakland. On the first floor there are gendered restrooms that are designated with a sign as safe for trans folks.
Cafe Madrid 2001 Broadway, Oakland. Bathroom for customers only.
Rock Paper Scissors 2278 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland. Bathroom for customers only.
Blue Bottle Coffee Company 300 Webster Street, Oakland. Bathrooms for customers only.
Soulely Vegan 301 Broadway, Oakland. Bathrooms for customers only.
Enssaro 366 Grand Ave (btw Perkins & Ellita), Oakland. No key necessary.
Berkeley Espresso 1900 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley. No purchase necessary.
Saturn Cafe 2175 Allston Way in Berkeley, and 145 Laurel Street in Santa Cruz. They have two bathrooms that are both gender neutral. No key needed in the Berkeley location.
Athineon 1941 University Ave., Berkeley. No key needed, for (paying) customers. Single toilet and sink.
Eudemonia (Gaming store and internet café) 2154 University Avenue in Berkeley. No key needed, for (paying) customers. Two gender-neutral bathrooms, each with toilet and sink.
Sonoma Coffee Café 2131 Durant Avenue, Berkeley. No key needed, purchase encouraged. Single toilet and sink.
Target 1057 Eastshore Highway, Albany & 1555 40th Street, Emeryville. No key needed. Single stall with changing tables.
Bay Street Mall 5616 Bay Street, Emeryville. No purchase necessary. Third level, by movie theaters.
Hillsdale Shopping Center 60 31st Avenue, San Mateo. Has a single toilet, sink, and changing table.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea All locations. Bathrooms for customers only.
McDonald’s All locations.
Crepevine all locations. Bathrooms for customers only.
Starbucks all locations. Bathrooms for customers only.
Sorry, Alecs, but you’re wrong about MacDonalds, Peet’s Starbucks and Crepevine. Certainly not “all” locations of these places have bathrooms that are either neutral or safe.
