MTA Settles Transgender Bathroom Lawsuit

By Sara Stefanini, amNewYork

October 24, 2006


Helena Stone, at 8th ave & 25th, in New York on October 23, 2006.
 (Photo by Lane Johnson)

Transgender New Yorkers won the right to use any rest room they choose at MTA stations after a lawsuit was settled Monday between a Chelsea woman and the agency.

The agreement came as advocates prepare to tackle the same issue with the Port Authority, whose police advocates say arrested three transgender women for using the women's rest room earlier this month.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to pay $2,000 in damages to Helena Stone, 70, a pre-operative woman formerly known as Henry McGuinness. Stone, a longtime Verizon telephone technician, was arrested three times in late 2005 and early 2006 after using women's rest rooms at Grand Central Terminal, where she was assigned to repair pay phones.

"I'm thrilled with it," said Stone, who began hormone replacement therapy 11 years ago. "It's like the world was lifted off my shoulders after a few months of hell."

Transit police charged her with disorderly conduct. She say the officers verbally abused her after she presented a man's work credentials after being questioned, she said. The charges were dropped after a protest in March.

As part of the agreement, the MTA will also sponsor a transgender sensitivity training program for employees, said Michael Silverman, an attorney for the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. Silverman filed the complaint with the city Commission on Human Rights.

Both Silverman and Stone said they were satisfied with the terms. The $2,000 will reimburse Stone for her criminal defense, and the new policy should put an end to the harassment, Silverman said, noting that people aren't required by law to use specific bathrooms.

An MTA spokesman confirmed the terms but would not comment.

Silverman is now considering bringing a complaint or civil suit against the Port Authority. Three transgender women, between the ages of 18 and 22, were arrested at the Port Authority Bus Terminal Oct. 3 and charged with trespassing, said Kate Barnhart, manager of Sylvia's Place, a shelter for gay, bisexual and transgender youth, where the women were clients.

According to Barnhart, police officers continually referred to the transgender woman as men.

"They were saying loudly to onlookers, 'Men in the women's bathroom,' and another one said, 'I wouldn't want my wife in there with you things,' " she said, "These are just people who were using the bathroom to fix their makeup."

A spokesman for the Port Authority said they were looking into the case. A week later, a gay man was also arrested in a men's room at the terminal, and charged with trespassing, Barnhart added. A policeman, who allegedly used a homosexual slur, told the man that he was required to have a bus ticket to use the terminal, Barnhart said.

State Assemb. Richard Gottfried, (D-Manhattan) who supported Stone's case and will back the one against the Port Authority, was pleased with the settlement.

"It's really shocking that we have to go through this again," Gottfried said. "Part of what's distressing here is the disobedience of sensible policy and the apparently outrageous conduct towards the women." 

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