This Drawing By A Trans Teen Has Become A Symbol In The Fight For Trans Bathroom Rights
“I didn’t want confrontation. I just wanted to pee.”
Jason Gross is a 22-year-old writer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He uses the Tumblr page, artdweeb, for his drawings and commissions.
Jason Gross / Via artdweeb.tumblr.com
In 2012, Gross drew a comic to express his frustration at the bathroom policy of his high school and how he, as a trans person, was treated by staff. He shared the image to his Tumblr.
"I also hated going out in public because unless I was extremely lucky there wouldn't be a gender neutral or single stall bathroom anywhere," he said. "It was a constant source of anxiety for me knowing that if I pass I'll look like a boy in the girls' room, if I don't pass I'll look like a girl in the boys' room, and either way this is inviting confrontation. I didn't want confrontation. I just wanted to pee."
While Gross's original post wasn't hugely shared, over the past few years, the image has been used frequently, often uncredited, when there has been news around gender-neutral bathrooms.
AP