Trans Woman Arrested For Using Women’s Bathroom to Wash Hands
A transgender protester is facing jail for entering a women's bathroom to wash her hands at the Florida State Capitol.
A transgender protester from Illinois was arrested for washing her hands in the women’s bathroom at the Florida State Capitol.
But it wasn’t because she was outed or reported to the police by another person.
Rather, she outed herself.
According to the Miami Herald, 20-year-old college student Marcy Rheintgen alerted Florida lawmakers of her intention to use the women’s restroom in protest of the state’s 2023 transgender bathroom ban, which prohibits transgender individuals from using bathrooms matching their gender identity in public buildings, universities, schools, public parks, or correctional institutions.
Rheintgen — who regularly visits her grandparents in Florida and calls the state a “home away from home” — sent letters to Florida lawmakers in early March informing them of her plan to use the women’s restroom. She even included a self-identifying photo.
“I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,” Rheintgen wrote. “I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and you can’t arrest us away. I know that you know that I have dignity.
“That’s why I know that you won’t arrest me.”
On the day Rheintgen planned to use the bathroom, she was met outside by two officers, who said they would try to work with her. Rheintgen entered the bathroom to wash her hands.
The officers told her they would issue her a notice to appear before a judge, allowing her to avoid being placed in jail. But according to the arrest affidavit, officers said Rheintgen didn’t meet the criteria for a notice to appear.
Rheintgen told the Herald that she was a little bit “sassy” when she was talking to the officers and implied that she might use the women’s restroom again.
That’s when they arrested her, charging her with trespassing. She was released from jail 24 hours after her arrest.
Since Rheintgen lives in Illinois, she has to find a way to fly back to Florida for future hearings. Because trespassing is a second-degree misdemeanor, Rheintgen could be imprisoned for up to 60 days if convicted.
Rheintgen claims to be a “moderate conservative.” She told the Herald she regrets her choice to challenge the law and didn’t think she’d actually be arrested.
“Everything that is politics seems very abstract and philosophical from far away,” she said. “This is the first time it’s really affected me. I got arrested, and I got sent to jail because of Gov. [Ron] DeSantis’ policies — like that’s crazy, that’s crazy!”
Rheintgen is believed to be the first person to be arrested for violating the bathroom ban.
While 14 states have passed laws barring transgender women from entering women’s bathrooms in government buildings, Florida and Utah are the only two states that have criminalized the actions.
Additionally, while Florida’s law only applies to government-owned properties, there have been multiple reports of transgender or nonbinary Floridians being confronted, harassed, or intimidated for using gender-affirming restrooms in private businesses, which are exempt from the law.
Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, told the Associated Press that the bathroom ban is intended to intimidate transgender people by making them vulnerable to harassment and arrest.
“The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety,” Smith said. “It’s about cruelty, humiliation and the deliberate erosion of human dignity. Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident. What’s changed is not their presence — it’s a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life.”
Rheintgen worries that if she’s forced to go to jail, she could be placed in a cell with men, forced to cut her long hair, and be denied access to hormone therapy that she’s currently taking.
“People are telling me it’s a legal test, like this is the first case that’s being brought,” she told the AP. “It’s how they test the law. But I didn’t do this to test the law. I did it because I was upset. I can’t have any expectations for what’s going to happen because this has never been prosecuted before. I’m horrified and scared.”
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