14 Jul 2016

Anti-transgender sign in Bangkok bathroom goes viral

A sign barring a transgender intern from a female bathroom at a public radio station has created an online debate in Thailand

A photo of a sign at a women’s bathroom demanding it not be used by transgenders has been retweeted thousands of times and divided opinion in Thailand.

The sign reads “third gender, don’t use the women’s room. Understand? We don’t welcome you. Thank you,”

The photo was posted by a transgender intern at Radio Thailand, a public radio station owned by the National Broadcasting Services, who goes by the username @Foremost.

“I don’t like the part ‘not welcome.’ How were you raised to be this narrow-minded? Your parents don’t love you?” @Foremost wrote in her tweet of the image.

“I’ve been using this room for over a month and this morning I found the paper telling me to use men’s room,” the intern told Khaosod media.

Some netizens replied that sign may guard against people with ill intentions while others accused the makers of the sign of being narrow-minded. Other users also suggested gender-neutral bathrooms be built.