Bathroom Troll

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, most people who didn’t know me were confused by my gender. On a seemingly daily basis, I was asked directly whether I was a boy or a girl, often in public settings. It didn’t help that my name could be gender non-specific and that I liked to wear colorful jewelry and grow my hair long. But the question was always confrontational, fueled by some unexplained anger. It was as if I was doing something wrong or harmful to others simply because I was naturally androgynous and might not fit into an “either-or” scenario. I was violating a status quo.

BATHROOM TROLL is a creative response to “bathroom bill” legislation proposed around the U.S. in recent years. A disregard for one’s gender identity, the mandates restrict access to multiuser restrooms on the basis of gender assigned at birth. These bills are presented as attempts to keep public bathrooms “safe” from transgender predators, yet there has never been a single reported case of a trans person attacking anyone in a public bathroom. Conversely, since the rise of these efforts, more trans people are now reporting being harassed or attacked themselves when attempting to use public facilities. Millions of Americans who identify as transgender, genderqueer, or, like me, consider themselves gender non-conforming, are cautious when entering a public bathroom, oftentimes avoiding them altogether.

In "Gender Failure," queer artist Ivan E. Coyote laments how the lives of gender non-conforming people are being overshadowed by a “boogey-man that might be lurking in the ladies room.” Coyote has been a primary source of inspiration for this film, and this quote in particular has resonated with me from the project’s inception through post-production. Through satire, I’m presenting an absurd nightmarish world where everything these bathroom bills warn against comes true. A dangerous predator – not only blurring the lines between male and female but brazenly exaggerating the ambiguity – lurks in bathrooms where you least expect it. Suddenly, the inherent safety within bathrooms is replaced with terror and mayhem. This is of course an absurd scenario, but it is my hope to exploit the absurdity in order to expose such political actions for what they really are: hateful, angry assaults led by a fear of the other and the unknown.

As the protagonist in the film, Cassie must defend herself for being in the girls’ bathroom. But this is only the beginning of her battle. She quickly falls victim to her own hate and anger, potentially leading to a cycle of never-ending revenge. Cassie must learn that violence and revenge never accomplish anything, a classic moral well worth revisiting as a reminder to us all.