Transgender man Michael Hughes of Rochester, Minn., joined
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts on his streamed LGBT-focused show
Out There to explain to viewers how he got the idea for his
#WeJustNeedtoPee bathroom selfie campaign.
In an
Advocate exclusive photograph, Hughes appears between two women in a ladies' room to protest recently proposed legislation in
Minnesota to require him to use facilities that do not match his gender.
"I've taken some heat for that. They're all friends and family," he told Roberts on today's episode. "I didn't want to put women in a vulnerable position, so the bathrooms were checked beforehand, the doors were guarded, to pretty much alleviate any chance of a woman walking in and seeing me in the bathroom."
His campaign was inspired by
Brae Carnes, a trans woman from British Columbia, who started this powerful social media response to proposed laws in both countries that would invade transgender people's privacy and restrict their civil rights.
Hughes, 45, told Roberts he also uses the hashtags #occupotty and #translivesmatter to bring attention to his campaign.
Watch Hughes on MSNBC.com's Out There with Thomas Roberts below.
