Transgender residents living under bathroom ban reflect on Sarah McBride controversy

Transgender residents in Odessa, Texas, have been banned from using single-gender bathrooms in public buildings that align with their gender identity.

Alexander Ermels, a transgender man, made the decision to start using the men's room after he experienced a negative response to being in the women's bathroom -- which he would be forced to use under the Odessa bathroom policy.

"I hadn't even started hormone replacement therapy yet the first time that I had a negative altercation in the women's room," said Ermels, who serves as president of the LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG’s Midland and Odessa chapter. "I don't want to make women uncomfortable, that has never been my goal, and I use the men's room because I don't want to make women uncomfortable."

In Odessa, the passage of a city ordinance amendment in October declares that any person who uses a bathroom, changing room, or locker room in any city building -- including community centers, libraries, airports, park facilities and administrative office buildings -- that does not align with their gender as assigned at birth could be convicted of a Class C misdemeanor and punished with a fine of up to $500.

People who violate the rule and refuse to leave a public bathroom could also be sued for "statutory damages in an amount of not less than $10,000 for each violation of this ordinance," according to the decree. The ordinance lists exceptions for children or someone offering emergency assistance.

For transgender and nonbinary Odessa residents who have lived under this rule, the recent decision from House Speaker Mike Johnson to reserve congressional bathrooms based on one's gender assigned at birth comes as no surprise. His mandate comes as Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, gets ready to begin serving her constituents.

Johnson's statement, issued on November 20, reads: “All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex. It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol. Women deserve women’s only spaces.”

Ernels argues: "It is not that they think that I should be using the women's room, it's that they think that I shouldn't exist."

He continued, "America has tried to do this with other minorities before, for things like segregation of bathrooms for Black and white people, for the vitriol that's happening in the media right now for immigrants, for specifically Hispanic immigrants, it is not about safety and it's not about kids. It's about a thing that they really don't like and they want you to stop doing it."

Proponents of these restrictions, including Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, argue that single-gender bathroom policies are important for women's safety and privacy: "I have PTSD from the abuse I've suffered at the hands of a man, and I know how vulnerable women and girls are in private spaces, so I'm absolutely 100% going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women's restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms," said Mace in a statement. "I will be there fighting you every step of the way."

Odessa Councilmember Chris Hanie, who voted in favor of the local ordinance change, argued: "I don't care who you are, and what you do in the privacy of your home is your business, but I don't need to see it in public,” Hanie said, according to the Texas Tribune.

Trans residents, however, say that the narrative around "fear" and "personal safety" concerning transgender use of bathrooms is rooted in discrimination. They argue transgender people aren't inherently dangerous and are actually more likely to be victims of violence than cisgender people.

One study in the Sexuality Research and Social Policy journal was unable to find evidence that trans-inclusive policies on restrooms, lockers and changing rooms increase safety risks or related crimes.

McBride has said she will follow the congressional rules on bathroom use.

"I’m not here to fight about bathrooms," said McBride in an online statement. "I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them."

Diego Miguel Sanchez, who, in 2008, became the first openly transgender senior congressional staffer, told ABC News that he remembers being welcomed by Congress members, who assured him they intended to "make sure that you're as safe as absolutely everybody else, that we want to make sure that no one bothers you while you're here."

"It didn't shock me, but it was a kind of welcome that I wasn't expecting," Sanchez said. "There are people all over the place at Capitol Hill who do welcome us, and they are still there, because I still see them when I visit every couple of weeks."

Sanchez worked as the senior policy adviser to Congressman Barney Frank until Frank's 2013 retirement. He was disheartened hearing that McBride was specifically being targeted in the effort to restrict bathrooms.

"For the community to have moved to a place of public acceptance and then being shut down in a way as if it were criminalized, as if we are criminals, it is absolutely unacceptable," said Sanchez.

Nycole Roulette, a transgender woman who was born and raised in Odessa, said that she harbors fear when it comes to using the bathroom in public: "It's not fair because [Odessa] is my home, too."

She told ABC News she uses a single-person unisex bathroom in the back of her workplace, or waits until she's home for the day, because she fears the potential for discrimination or violence. Advocates argue that this is what the workday could look like for any transgender or nonbinary employees or for trans visitors on Capitol Hill.

Waiting to use the bathroom can have adverse effects, including urinary tract infections and bowel and bladder problems, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"I don't know if there's somebody else that I work with or it's just a guest that is dining in with us who can clock me at any given moment, and just because I walk funny or my feet are a little too big -- a lot of things run through the trans person's head," said Roulette.

Odessa residents argue that people of all identities -- transgender or not -- will be scrutinized under bathroom bans for how they present their gender "if you don't match their idea of what we should look like," said Pauline Williamson, the Vice President of Price Center West Texas.

On Nov. 21, the mayor-elect and new city council have said that the controversial Odessa bathroom ordinance will not be actively enforced, as it "creates the potential for lawsuits to be brought against the city."

"The ordinance contains language that city staff has deemed unenforceable, and based on feedback received from citizens, the new Mayor and Council members have expressed a desire to re-visit this ordinance," the Mayor-elect Cal Hendrick's office said in a statement. "They want to acknowledge the safety concerns which were the origins of this ordinance, but they feel there is a way to craft a fair and equitable policy for all Odessans."

Eli Hilbert, an Odessa resident who uses both he/him and they/them pronouns, pleads with lawmakers to focus on "real problems," not about "who's in the bathroom."

"We have real problems as a city, and the city council has not been addressing them," said Hilbert.