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Tulsa LGBT community upset after President lifts transgender bathroom policy

President lifts transgender bathroom policy
President lifts transgender bathroom policy
Posted at 9:10 PM, Feb 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-22 22:11:06-05

TULSA - Outraged is just one way to put it. The LGBT community devastated after the Trump administration lifts the transgender bathroom guideline.

As she turns on the water and washes her hands, Sharon Queen demands respect.

"It upsets me that equal rights has gone away and personal rights have gone away to states' rights," she said. 

President Trump just lifted federal guidelines that allowed transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that matched the gender they choose. The guidelines were passed under the Obama administration last may.

"People look at me and see my size and they tend to step away," Oklahomans for Equality Facilities Coordinator Sharon Queen said. "But certainly I would be put my life on my own hands anytime I walk into a men's room."

Queen says she came out 10 years ago and still fears for her safety. She said so does the entire transgender community.

"I feel very uncomfortable when my transgender friends need to go into a public restroom and fear for their life to pee," Queen said.

Alyssa Bryant says the federal guidelines gave transgender students the option. Now she says President Trump is taking that option away.

"He may support the right of Caitlyn Jenner to go to the bathroom at his hotel, but he's not going to protect transgender children in the schools," Oklahomans for Equality Board of Directors member Alyssa Bryant said.

Bryant says it's a health issue.

"Transgender kids often times will dehydrate themselves before they go to school," she said. "They will hold it throughout the school which interferes with their learning experience."

Most importantly, Sharon Queen says this reversal won't stop the transgender community from fighting.

"Are we going to gird up our loins and move forward like we always do?" she said. "We're going to fight for our own rights because if we're not fighting, how can we expect anyone else to fight?"

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