Transgender proof plan draws critics.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 10/24/05): Toby Hill-Meyer identifies as neither exclusively male or female, but prefers female pronouns if a pronoun must be used. A story on Page D1 of Wednesday's paper, about gender identity protection under consideration by the Eugene Human Rights Commission, used incorrect pronouns in reference to Hill-Meyer.

Requiring transgender people to show documentation in order to use public bathrooms and showers would create more problems than it would solve, a half-dozen people told the Eugene Human Rights Commission on Tuesday night.

Such documentation is discriminatory "and smacks of Big Brother," said Judy Moseley, a member of the Lane County Human Rights Committee. "Who's going to ask for the documentation, and who's it going to be asked of?"

The perception that many transgender people are sexual predators is a harmful myth that speaks to the need for a law protecting them from discrimination, added Amy Bustin, community education coordinator for Sexual Assault Support Services, a local nonprofit agency.

"Trans and gender-variant people are more likely to be victims of violence, including sexual assault and often murder, rather than perpetrators," Bustin said.

The testimony comes as the city human rights panel pushes to have Eugene join 79 other cities, counties and states across the country that already have added gender identity to the list of "classes" protected from discrimination in public employment, housing and accommo- dations.

Commissioners are united in their support for such a law; the sticking point is whether it should include a requirement that people claiming to be of a certain gender show proof - such as a driver's license or therapist's letter - that they really are that gender. A person's genitalia would not necessarily reflect that gender.

Earlier this year, a Gender Identity Work Group unanimously recommended that revisions to the city's human rights code include allowing people to enter whichever public bathroom, locker room or shower they regard as "most appropriate" for them.

But a handful of critics, including some transgender women, say it's appropriate to require documentation - in the interests of protecting women and children from being exposed to male genitalia in female-oriented public spaces.

Similar concerns surfaced in 2002, when the City Council approved revisions to the human rights code but dropped language relating to transgender rights in the face of a threatened veto by then-Mayor Jim Torrey.

Rebecca Taylor, a transgender woman, submitted signatures from 28 women - three transgender and 25 straight - who she said support the idea of requiring documentation. Eugene should follow the city of Portland's lead and pass a gender identity law that requires documentation, Taylor said.

"That's an absolutely minimum requirement, and it greatly increases the chances of passing a law here," she said, referring to final approval by the City Council and, possibly, voters.

Taylor, however, was the sole person to speak in support of documentation. Others agreed with Joe Humphreys, who said documentation "makes people guilty until proven innocent."

Humphreys said his employer recently excused him from work so he could observe the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur - without requiring "a note from a rabbi." Requiring transgender people to show documentation would feel just as insulting, he said.

Transgender people could actually face greater risk of harassment or violence if forced to use a public facility other than the one they prefer, Humphreys said. Imagine forcing a person moving from female to male identity - but who has not yet had reassignment surgery, or doesn't want or can't afford such surgery - to use a male facility against their wishes, he said.

Toby Hill-Meyer, a self-described `gender queer' who doesn't identify as exclusively male or female, said he is "the trans person that people are afraid of." Because he wears male clothes but has breasts, some people will think it wrong no matter which public facilities he uses.

So why not let him make the choice? "Regardless of documentation, my body will be the same," Hill-Meyer said.

City human rights analyst Greg Rikhoff said similar legislation has been "a slam-dunk" with little or no controversy in other communities - prompting Commissioner Neil Van Steenbergen to ask why that hasn't been the case here. Rikhoff cited Eugene's reputation for introspection, and the "legacy of 2002' when similar concerns were raised.

Rikhoff said progress also has been slowed because city staff members have asked for a legal review of how the issue of access to public facilities relates to public indecency laws.

Commissioner Misa Joo said that issue should have been addressed long ago, and that she worries about the negative connotations of tying gender identity protection to public indecency laws. She and other commissioners voiced frustration at the delay in forwarding a recommendation to the City Council.

The commission may schedule a work session to discuss the matter further before its next regular meeting Nov. 15.