Transgenders Can Use Any NYC Subway Bathroom
POSTED: 9:16 am PDT October 25, 2006
NEW YORK -- Transgender people won the right to use any restroom operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in an agreement reached with a woman who had sued the agency for the right.
Under the agreement, reached Monday, the MTA also agreed to pay Helena Stone -- formerly known as Henry McGuinness -- $2,000 in damages to pay for her legal fees, according to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented Stone.
It also calls for the MTA to hold transgender sensitivity training for its workers.
The MTA confirmed the settlement but declined to comment further.
Stone, 70, filed a complaint with the city's Human Rights Commission after being arrested three times for using the women's restroom at Grand Central Terminal where she worked as a telephone technician. She was charged with disorderly conduct each time.
Stone, who dresses like woman, has been in transition from male to female for about 10 years.
"I'm thrilled with it," Stone said after the agreement was reached.
During one arrest, Stone said an officer called her "a freak, a weirdo and the ugliest woman in the world" and warned her, "If I ever see you in the women's bathroom, I'm going to arrest you."
The MTA dropped its charges in March against Stone after the TLDEF staged a rally outside Grand Central in February.
Stone was arrested on disorderly conduct charges on Sept. 29, on Dec. 17 and on Jan. 12. She said the arrests forced her to use a cup in her office, which has no bathroom.
The Human Rights Commission has previously instituted a similar policy for government and other public bathrooms in the city.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
POSTED: 9:16 am PDT October 25, 2006
NEW YORK -- Transgender people won the right to use any restroom operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in an agreement reached with a woman who had sued the agency for the right.
Under the agreement, reached Monday, the MTA also agreed to pay Helena Stone -- formerly known as Henry McGuinness -- $2,000 in damages to pay for her legal fees, according to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented Stone.
It also calls for the MTA to hold transgender sensitivity training for its workers.
The MTA confirmed the settlement but declined to comment further.
Stone, 70, filed a complaint with the city's Human Rights Commission after being arrested three times for using the women's restroom at Grand Central Terminal where she worked as a telephone technician. She was charged with disorderly conduct each time.
Stone, who dresses like woman, has been in transition from male to female for about 10 years.
"I'm thrilled with it," Stone said after the agreement was reached.
During one arrest, Stone said an officer called her "a freak, a weirdo and the ugliest woman in the world" and warned her, "If I ever see you in the women's bathroom, I'm going to arrest you."
The MTA dropped its charges in March against Stone after the TLDEF staged a rally outside Grand Central in February.
Stone was arrested on disorderly conduct charges on Sept. 29, on Dec. 17 and on Jan. 12. She said the arrests forced her to use a cup in her office, which has no bathroom.
The Human Rights Commission has previously instituted a similar policy for government and other public bathrooms in the city.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
