By Nara Schoenberg
There’s a woman’s restroom at the East Aurora Hobby Lobby (click here) where Meggan Sommerville works, but for 10 years, she’s been barred from using it because she is transgender.
She has had to punch out of work and cross a parking lot in the rain or snow to access the bathroom at a fast-food restaurant, she said. She has used the men’s room, which is shared by both employees and customers. She has restricted her fluid intake and endured dehydration, muscle cramps and headaches, according to court documents.
So when Sommerville contemplated the Illinois Appellate Court’s ruling that she had the right to use the women’s restroom at work, she paused, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“It’s a huge, huge relief,” said Sommerville, 51, of Oswego. “It’s still an emotional roller coaster, because we don’t know how Hobby Lobby is going to respond, and we have a ways to go. But to have a court uphold unanimously: I can’t put into words the relief that this brings.”
Hobby Lobby could not be reached for comment. The company has the option of appealing the case to the Supreme Court of Illinois....
