Posted on 12/14/2005 2:19:15 PM PST by nickcarraway
Brazil City Council Votes to Require Separate Bathrooms for Transvestites
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - For most, it's a choice of the men's room or the women's. A Brazilian city is trying to give an option to those who don't fit easily into either category.
A bill passed by the Nova Iguacu city council on Tuesday would require night clubs, shopping malls, movie theaters and large restaurants to provide a third type of bathroom for transvestites. Mayor Lindberg Farias will decide whether to make it a law.
"A lot of lawmakers didn't want to deal with this issue, but it's a serious problem in society," said city Councilman Carlos Eduardo Moreira. "It's a way to put an end to prejudice."
Moreira, a 32-year-old policeman on leave from the force, said he got the idea when dozens of transvestites showed up for a local samba show.
"It was a real problem. The women didn't feel comfortable having them in the ladies' room, and the men didn't want them in their bathroom either," said Moreira, who is married and the father of two children. "I'm not doing this for my own benefit."
He said the "alternative bathrooms" could also be used by men or women who didn't mind sharing space with transvestites.
Moreira said there are nearly 28,000 transvestites in Nova Iguacu, a poor city of about 800,000 on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
Moreira said many transvestites are reluctant to go out because there's no bathroom for them. And he denied that the cost of building a third bathroom would be a big problem for restaurant or club owners.
"It requires an initial investment, but after that, the establishment will end up making more money because it will have a larger public. And transvestites like to spend," he said.
The issue has divided gay groups; some feared it could segregate gays, while others said it recognized a problem within the gay community.
"At first we were against the law, but after some discussion we decided we had to support it because it addresses a real problem for a segment of the gay community," said Eugenio Ibiapino dos Santos, a founder of the Pink Triangle Association, a gay group in Nova Iguacu. "We see it as a way to open a discussion about civil rights."
Brazil is generally more tolerant of homosexuality than other Latin American countries, but discrimination still exists.
A study conducted by the Candido Mendes University in Rio de Janeiro found that 60 percent of Rio's homosexuals had met some type of harassment, and 17 percent said they had experienced physical violence.
Uh, I thought they were transvestites because they wanted to be the oposite sex.
Whats the big deal bathrooms are basically plumbing right.
Well people are too. If you have male plumbing, you go to the Mens Room, If you have Female plumbing you go to the Ladies room.
We threw away a ton of money on toilets when the ADA came about now we need toilets for Fruits with their heads screwed on backwards?? I dont think so.
Up Next: Brokeback Samba.
Uh, more like Brokeback Samba #241...
Men
Women
Unclear
Brazil: Tranny Capital of the World
Considering how poor many of the people in Brazil are is spending money of transvestite bathrooms the best way to spend their money? "Food? Shelter? Medicine? Can't afford that! Our she-males are demanding their own john!!"
That's because it never should have BECOME an issue!
That should do it.
After thinking about this for a while I came to the conclusion this might not be a bad idea. If I was out at a club and my new date walked into the tranny banjo I would have plenty of time to find the front door.
Moreira said there are nearly 28,000 transvestites in Nova Iguacu, a poor city of about 800,000 on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
Holy Dame Edna!!!!
My wife doesn't like sharing with the freak in a skirt, because it has a penis. Makes her uncomfortable.
I don't like sharing with the freak with a penis, because it it is dressed as, and acting like, a woman. Makes me uncomfortable.
This way we're both happy, and the freak is probably unhappy because it can't shock or exhibit itself...that is an added bonus for us.
This would be the institutionalization of defacto legal gay-sex bathrooms in every imaginable establishment.
They already (mis)use bathrooms in that manner anyway. At least this way decent people wouldn't have to use it after them; nor be unwilling observers, or worse.
I wasn't aware they had transvestites in Brazil
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.