Given McBride’s own desire to tell the stories of a range of trans people in North Carolina, it’s clear that she’s invested in combatting discrimination for all trans people. As she herself wrote in a comment to her post: “I also want to be mindful of the privilege that I have of being able to go back to a place where I'm not barred from govt restrooms. I want to be mindful of the fact that the impact of these laws disproportionately impacts young trans people, trans people of color, and trans people with disabilities.”



Yet as McBride’s image continues to be shared outside of her immediate control, it’s clear that a significant segment of the public her message has reached feels more comfortable welcoming trans women who look like her into the women’s room than those who do not. Among the hundreds of comments that have flooded McBride’s image on social media are dozens that commend her appearance. As a young, cis-passing, and feminine-presenting white trans woman, McBride serves as a non-confrontational model for the segment of trans people who live their lives being perceived as cisgender, able to frequently use public restrooms undisturbed and unnoticed.

More than simply commending her beauty, many of the reactions to McBride’s image either implicitly or explicitly exclude other trans people. “Sarah looks like a woman and should be able to go into the ladies room to pee,” wrote one commenter, and another gave this appraisal along with their support: “You don't look like a pervert and you don't look like a man either.”

These cis commenters are implying that they very well might not be as supportive of McBride if she looked less “like a woman” — and clearly they view themselves as the arbiters of this judgment. Transfeminine people who “look like men” remain unwelcome in the women’s room, as they have been even before the spate of anti-LGBT legislation targeting bathroom use.

In a study published in 2013 by Jody L. Herman from UCLA’s Williams Institute, the most recent and comprehensive to date, the author demonstrates the already significant existing impact of the lack of restroom accessibility on trans people’s lives. Through a survey of 93 transgender people in the Washington D.C. area, Herman found that more than two-thirds of her respondents reported experiencing verbal harassment, 18% had been denied access, and 9% had been physically assaulted in public restrooms. The study also shows that nonbinary or genderqueer-identified people were significantly more likely to experience problems in public restrooms, and that male-to-female trans people were more likely to be physically assaulted, with one reporting that she was sexually assaulted when she tried to use the men’s room.

According to Herman, these experiences have had far-reaching effects for trans people. Respondents reported having to miss school or quit jobs because they were denied access to restrooms, and more than half reported having avoided going out in public due to concerns about restroom accessibility. These are the actual, day-to-day impact of the lack of safe public restrooms in trans people’s lives — which are only amplified by laws that attempt to deny us access to restrooms that correspond with our gender identity. Details about how, exactly, laws like North Carolina’s would be enforced are muddled, with police departments across the state unclear about how people who violate the law would be identified, charged, and penalized. But regardless of how the law is enforced, the hostile environment in which it was conceived is enough to negatively impact the trans population in a major way.

Selfies of cis-passing trans people in public restrooms simply cannot communicate the fears of the most vulnerable segments of the trans population — and the people who post them, often acknowledging their privilege, aren’t necessarily attempting to speak for everyone. But as these images continue to be shared and commented on outside of the posters’ control, many of the people who express support for their subjects also articulate allegiance to established gender roles as a condition of their support. Focusing on trans people who are, for the most part, able to use restrooms without much trouble risks sending a message to cis people that trans people who present in socially acceptable ways are the ones most deserving of safety and support. Many of us are unable to present in these ways, whether because of our gender expression, our physical makeup, or our lack of access to gender-affirming medical procedures. Neither stoking cis people’s fears, nor comforting them with palatable images of “good” trans people, will assure safe restroom use for the entire trans population. It is only by asserting all trans people’s right to have equal and unimpeded access to public life, regardless of our gender identity or presentation, that we can hope to ensure a future where every trans person can use public restrooms in peace.