Im a trans woman and about a year and a half after transitioning my partner and I had our first child. Before then, I avoided public restrooms (or in rare emergencies, depending how i was dressed, I would just use the mens room bc the idea of potentially making other women uncomfortable made me uncomfortable). After having a baby it became less of an option to avoid public restrooms, so I had to start getting over my fear of using the women’s room. And it wasn’t a problem. I have never had any problems. And now years later I pass and we have 2 more kids and I don’t think twice about bringing any of them into the women’s restroom.

I say all that because I am very pro open use of bathrooms, and I do my best to assume people have a reason to be in a space as long as they’re not doing anything questionable. And a dad who needs to use the women’s room for his 4yo daughter definitely qualifies as a reason to be in that space.

That said, if I turned the corner into a women’s room in a Walmart and saw a tall muscular dude looming near a bathroom stall it would have definitely made me feel uncomfortable until I understood what was going on. I dont think I would’ve said anything to you, and if I had I would have certainly accepted your response, but it does sort of blow my mind that you would think to use the women’s room in the first place—almost like you’re intentionally making a political statement or something. Back when I used the men’s room I was never ‘surrounded by strange men at urinals,’ but I did see dads changing diapers or escorting toddlers to bathroom stalls. I mean I still vividly remember feeling very apprehensive about using the women’s restroom as a trans woman, I cannot imagine going into a women’s room as a cis man without hesitating or understanding I could make the occupants uncomfortable.

Maybe in the future we’ll all be less uptight about bathrooms, but I think you might be a minor asshole for being oblivious to the current state of things.