This is 99% invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

Sandy Allen is a reporter and a writer.

They live in upstate New York, and they often go into New York City to run errands and go to meetings.

And when they're out and about, finding an accessible bathroom can be a challenge.

All right, so I'm on a university campus in New York City and there is a women's room and a men's room and then a guy saw me sort of

Waiting to you know figure out what I was gonna do This is a recording I made a few months back

when I was in New York City.

That's Sandy.

This was before COVID, and I kept an audio diary

of my bathroom search.

He said to me, it's multiple, referring to the men's room

that he just exited, I think, because he thought I was

waiting to enter it.

So, hooray, bathrooms.

For context, Sandy is non-binary and transgender.

In terms of looking quote-unquote male or quote-unquote female,

I land somewhere in between.

Some strangers call me sir, others call me ma'am,

and so public restrooms always present this dilemma.

In women's rooms, people look at me weird or say mean things, but I'm often too afraid to go into men's

rooms. I'm short and I have this voice, and I worry that those traits could make me a target.

...