Miss Gay Bloomington pageant winner addresses law students

While in a Texas shelter after Hurricane Katrina, a transgender woman emerged from the showers only to be greeted with an arrest for criminal trespassing. Police said that she was using the "wrong bathroom." \nThis case was one of the examples of discrimination Miss Gay Bloomington, Britney Taylor, brought up in her discussion Thursday with more than 40 IU law students.\n"How do we charge criminal trespassing during a hurricane?" Taylor asked the audience.\nTaylor was crowned Miss Gay Bloomington last year in the annual pageant in which contestants compete to be a good entertainer, among other things. Jason Ervin, the owner of Miss Gay Bloomington, said the winner does shows all year in addition to pushing agenda related to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. \nFor an hour, Taylor led discussion regarding the transgender rights movement and the legal implications faced by the population.\n"These are our future lawmakers to shape the country," she said. "This is an issue that needs to be focused on and clarified so (there is) no confusion and hopefully laws are passed."\nEric Bowers, co-president of the Lambda Law Society and coordinator of the event, said the goals of hosting this discussion and speech were to open up transgender issues to the law students.\n"The discussion really highlighted the deficiencies in our current society where people don't know about the plight of underprivileged people."\nJames Young, a third-year law student, said he felt the discussion was better than reading an article about transgender rights.\n"You learn about the speaker's personal experience from a more interesting and personal point of view," he said. "I find that the legal issues are so very new and it's very interesting to me, especially since these issues were not before the courts 50 years ago."\nSecond-year law student Adria Villar was among the attendees of the event and is a supporter of GLBT rights.\n"I'm interested in the transgender point of view, and the discussion reinforced the humanity of a community that is suffering and their awareness in terms of their own GLBT issues," Villar said.\nThe discussion lead to transgender rights in other countries, with Taylor explaining how Brazil is working toward having three bathrooms, the third being a unisex bathroom.\n"I really don't think we need three bathrooms (for a solution everywhere). I am not a third sex. I identify myself as a woman," Taylor said. "I don't go into a bathroom to try and pick up anyone. I go and do what I need to do and leave, but I understand where people wouldn't be comfortable."\nWith Brazil's progress for more rights, other places seem to be moving in the same direction. \nTaylor said, however, that she has had her own share of discrimination, from walking down the street to employment situations. \n"I've been asked walking down the streets if I'm a man or a woman by children," she said. "Almost every where I go, someone is going to say something. I know the looks; I know when something's said"