A recent letter from David Clinard of Oakland (“Schools should protect bathroom privacy,” May 19) painted the picture of the horror befalling “10 year-old Mary in a stall in the bathroom when a 14-year-old transgender girl walks in and unveils her male parts.”

I’ve tried to picture just how Mary is going to see those “male parts” since she is in one stall — presumably with the door closed — and the 14-year-old is in another.

I suppose that Mary could bend way over and look under the partition — or perhaps use a mirror for the same purpose. Or maybe Mary could stand on the seat or the plumbing and peer over the top.

Of course, Mary would have to time these moves carefully, since the interval between the 14-year-old’s lowering of her underwear and sitting down would be a matter of seconds, and Mary wouldn’t want to be accused of spying on another student in the bathroom.

Clever Mary to violate the 14-year-old’s “unquestioned privacy” to catch a glimpse of those momentarily unveiled male parts. Clever David for alerting us to this danger.

Harold Booth

Hallowell


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