title:  Man Barges Into Women’s Bathroom Because He Saw Short-Haired Woman And Thought She Was Transgender
text: Ted Cruz got his wish. After weeks of fear mongering about transgender people and encouraging conservatives to lash out, men and women across the country are being harassed by self-appointed  bathroom cops  who have taken it upon themselves to barge into public bathrooms and demand their victims  prove  they are the biological gender they say they are.In Cruz s home state of Texas, a confused woman began recording her confrontation with a man as he walked into a women s bathroom and told her that her short hair and manner of dress made him suspect she was secretly a man. It s a perfect example of how Republicans have fixed a non-existent problem (transgender people do not use public restrooms to sexually assault young girls), and created a bigger one: An unregulated militia of angry men who now feel it is their duty to go into public restrooms and inspect people s anatomy.Jessica Rush is not transgender, but she has a short  fauxhawk  hairstyle and dared to wear a t-shirt and shorts when she went in to use the women s restroom at Baylor Medical Center in Frisco. Hot on her trail was an unidentified man who came into the bathroom with her and asked if she was a man. When I saw you enter I thought you was  the man says. A boy?  Rush offers. Yeah, it was kind of confusing.  Certainly she can see why.  You dress like a man,  he says several times as he walks away.Rush was understandably flabbergasted by the exchange. Later, she said she approached the man to ask why he felt compelled to approach her. He said his mother was using that bathroom. Somewhere on the campaign trail, Ted Cruz just nodded in approval. His fear mongering is working.Currently the issue of the right for the transgender community to use the bathroom of their choice has engulfed several southern states (with a few more, including Texas, on the way). The conservative argument is that trans people are little more than sexual predators dressing as women in order to gain access to young women. This has been shown both by scientific research and by example to be utter nonsense.Despite it s fictional roots, North Carolina s Republican governor has chosen it to be his hill to die on. In the wake of massive boycotts to the tune of tens of millions of dollars and incalculable national humiliation, Governor Pat McCrory says he is standing firm and keeping his discriminatory bathroom bill on the books. Sen. Ted Cruz, desperate to find a wedge issue to separate him from Republican front-runner Donald Trump, has made bashing trans people the central plank in his platform.And while most people are rightfully outraged by this latest stab at discrimination, the talking points are clearly working with some people. Many Americans who may never have even thought about the non-issue, have become consumed with fear that their loved ones will be attacked in a bathroom stall. It s hardly surprising, then, that some, like this man, have taken it upon themselves to interrogate people trying to use the bathroom. It s the inevitable conclusion to this level of transphobia.Watch the incident below: Video Apr 28, 2 13 35 PM from Voice Media Group on Vimeo.Featured image via Vimeo screengrab