Human Rights

My colleagues and I usually get many mass e-mails at work on a daily basis. Some are about daily news and activities on center. Some about someone forgetting to turn off their car lights. Some about mandatory trainings we should take. The list is long. We have got pretty good at going through them quickly.

A few years ago, one of these e-mails stood out. I initially had read it quickly. It sounded like the building manager was reporting on maintenance of one of the restrooms. As I was about to delete it, I noticed something odd. Everyone could use that restroom. It was now a unisex bathroom! What? Really?!

I recalled the Ally McBeal show and how its unisex bathroom was the source of controversy and so many stories. The e-mail went on emphasizing guidelines for using this new bathroom. I could not understand it. Why were they introducing complications to a work place? It was not like a new law was passed that required work places have a unisex bathroom!

Apparently, I was not the only one who was puzzled. We started talking among each other, and by word of mouth the mystery revealed itself very fast: an employee in our building had had a sex-change operation. Before the operation, he was legally considered a man. After the operation, he became a she. Apparently, there is a law that says he should live with his new gender for at least three months before he could legally be recognized as a woman. So, in this three-month period, she cannot use the ladies' bathroom legally. She cannot go to the men's bathroom either because she does not look like men anymore. Legally, the employer should provide restroom for the employees. The employer cannot discriminate or fire a person based on sex/gender either. So, they have to provide her a bathroom. On the other hand, the employer cannot say this is just for that person's personal use. It should be available to all employees. So, the bathroom is made unisex and it is announced to everyone they can use it if they wish!

It was strange. Part of me actually felt proud working where every individual is valued this much.