Apr 4
Transgender Activist 'Really Scared' but Stands by Her Act of Civil Disobedience
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Transgender equality activist Marcy Rheintgen faces jail time and online hate for the crime of washing her hands in a Florida ladies' room. The courageous 20-year-old admitted in comments to Pink News that she's "really scared," but she did not apologize – and she spoke to her faith as a source of strength and justification.
In "what could be one of the first arrests under a bathroom bill lawmakers passed in 2023," Rheintgen was taken into custody on March 19 and charged with trespassing for entering the ladies' room at the state capitol, the Miami Herald reported.
It wasn't as though Rheintgen was trying to fly under the radar. "She sent letters earlier in March to Florida lawmakers warning them that she planned to use a specific women's bathroom in the Capitol and included a photo of herself for identification," the Herald explained.
Rheintgen's appeal to state lawmakers was direct. "I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust," she wrote. "I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and you can't arrest us away."
She also predicted in her missive that she would not be placed under arrest for her act of civil disobedience – but she was. Now she's "really scared" of what might happen to her next.
"I'll likely go to a men's prison for a long time, where I'll be forcibly detransitioned, have my head shaved, and probably be raped," Rheintgen told Pink News. "It is horrifying and morally abhorrent that when we see different and unique members of our society, our first instinct is to imprison them."
Just as nauseating as contemplating the punishment the state of Florida has in store is the vitriol and hatred she faces, with some declaring she should "be imprisoned for life or should have to register as a sex offender or [be] killed," the young woman said, adding that the ugliness shown by trolls makes her "sick."
"The trespass charge is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail," the Herald noted. "It's unclear if anyone else in the state has been arrested under the 2023 law. That bill came amid other anti-LGBTQ legislation, including a bill prohibiting children from receiving medical therapies for gender dysphoria and a bill that critics said could shut down drag performances."
Florida's laws are part of a wave of anti-trans legislation that has emanated from GOP-led states' legislatures in record numbers over the past few years. Books have been banned, trans athletes denied the right to compete, and parents trying to care for their trans children have been smeared as abusers thanks to those legislative efforts targeting the queer community.
"Most Americans these days are angry and miserable and have a lust for vengeance that they simply can no longer quench in their personal life," Rheintgen told Pink News, "so they take it out on those who are smaller than them, those who cannot fight back."
Rheintgen, a student and resident of Illinois, now must navigate the complexities of attending to her studies in one state while dealing with legal fallout in another.
But, the self-described "moderate conservative" said, her stand is not a political one.
"People have asked about my ideology and it's simple: Dignity," Rheintgen declared. "My ideology is dignity. You don't have to be pro-trans to believe in this, you don't have to be pro-gay or pro-Jew, pro-immigrant or pro-Black, you just have to be pro-dignity, you just have to be pro-humanity."
Those beliefs are rooted in her faith.
"I don't think [God] sees his children as failures or disgusting," the student said. "I think God loves all his children.
"Ultimately, if I go to prison, that's OK because he will protect me," she went on to say. "If I suffer as a result of it, he will use it to more deeply heal and purify my heart. No one ever talks about how suffering is redemptive and healing when you properly sanctify it."
"I'm willing to suffer for the trans community," Rheintgen added. "I'm willing to suffer for rights. I'm willing to suffer for dignity."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
