- Newport residents spoke about transgender people using public restrooms
- One woman said she witnessed a trans person using the ladies locker room
- A transgender resident felt she was being made out to be a predator
Outrage erupted at an Oregon swimming pool after it was claimed a transgender woman was seen undressing in front of women and children.
One woman said she feared for her safety after the incident in the locker room at the Newport Recreation and Aquatic Center, reported KATU.
‘We do not want our children to see persons of the opposite sex or persons transitioning to the opposite sex undressed or nude,’ said Newport resident Linda Dinerstein at a council meeting on the issue Monday.
The issue was brought up after the parks and recreation said they had been ‘fielding questions’ related to gender identity and public restrooms.
Newport resident Linda Dinerstein (pictured) expressed her concern over safety after witnessing a transgender person use the locker room at a city council meeting Monday
Community member and transgender woman Mary Grace Frederick (pictured) said the concerned residents were making her out to be a predator
Dinerstein said she saw a person who appeared to be a man openly dressing in the women’s locker room at the Newport Recreation and Aquatic Center (pictured)
‘I personally witnessed a person who appeared to be a man, openly dressing in the women’s locker room. It was later communicated by the rec center that this was a biological female that was in the process of transitioning.’
Community member and transgender woman Mary Grace Frederick shared an opposing point of view during the same meeting.
She said: ‘People here tonight that are sitting in this room have called me a sexual deviant and a predator.’ There is no suggestion that Frederick was the woman involved in the changing room incident who triggered the complaint.
During the meeting Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan said restroom use was not the issue and more education is needed.
‘There’s assumptions that people make. If I see you as a predator, and I see you through that lens, because you’re different than me, then I will interpret whatever you do as predatory,’ said Kaplan.
On May 6, City of Newport Parks and Recreation Director Michael Cavanaugh asserted the city’s commitment to its diversity, equity and inclusion statement after they started receiving an increase in concern over bathroom use, reported KOIN.
‘Public spaces are for everyone and the City works diligently to ensure they are inclusive, accessible, and safe,’ Cavanaugh said.
‘Our city is diverse, vibrant, and flourishing because of the many people who that live and work here. The City of Newport and Newport Parks and Recreation will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or violence toward any patrons or staff.’
Cavanaugh said people who are uncomfortable can use the facility’s gender-neutral restrooms and the city of Newport follows the state law on public accommodations and discrimination.
Oregon law requires equal accommodations regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender identity or other backgrounds.
In Washington, an elderly woman has launched a $350,000 case against her city and its YMCA for banning her from a swimming pool after she objected to a trans woman using its women’s locker room.
Julie Jaman, 82, says Port Townsend and its Olympic Peninsula YMCA defamed her and unlawfully banned her from the center and seeks compensation for ‘emotional distress’ from the incident in July 2022.
Jaman was kicked out of the swimming complex and banned after encountering Clementine Adams, a trans male-to-female YMCA employee, in the women’s locker rooms and asking her to leave.
The case spotlights tensions between trans campaigners, who say society must accept their chosen sexual identity, and women who want biological males kept out of their changing rooms.
