Exactly what preventative measures are you referring to? It's not like prior to the transgender restroom blowup that we had guards at the doors physically checking people's private parts to make sure they used the 'appropriate' restroom.
You're right, there were never guards - and I certainly don't think there should be. I'd say the difference though is that now if you ask someone to leave a locker room because they're making other people uncomfortable - and that person happens to be transgendered - you're risking a massive lawsuit, even if they were in the wrong, because you may not be able to prove it (especially for sometimes more subjective crimes like voyeurism or exhibitionism).
For example - As a minor, I had a run-in with an exhibitionist cis-male adult late on the street one night. One thing that occurs to me in all of this is that (for the very small percentage of transgender women who also just so happen to be predators) is that today, if that person had also been transgender, she wouldn't need to resort to following girls off the train; she could go to the nearest gym locker room, where not only could she not be arrested for the act, she could sue if anyone asked her to leave (whereas, if a cis-woman is misbehaving in the women's locker room, she can be asked to leave; she can't plausibly allege discrimination when they do so).[/quote]
I'm sorry to hear about your experience. You are incorrect, however, in stating that a transgender woman could not be arrested for harassing women in a women's locker room. Any woman, transgender or otherwise, could be arrested for harassing women in a women's locker room.
When encountering someone in a bathroom or locker room, the thing to ask oneself is are they making you uncomfortable because of their mere presence or are they making you uncomfortable because they are harassing you? If its the former, get over it, do your business and get out. If its the latter, then just get out and complain to authorities. Depending upon whether there are other witnesses, it could turn into a matter of trustworthiness, but if you behave calmly and not make a fuss over 'whether that person belongs in the restroom/locker room' I seriously doubt you need to fear any lawsuits. In these kinds of cases, character, or lack thereof, generally makes itself known fairly quickly.
For those on this forum who feel this is very clear-cut: what are your thoughts on transgender female police officers doing body searches on female suspects, for instance? Do you think the suspects should be allowed to request a different police officer (if they generally wouldn't be allowed to do so)?
I'm not a woman and I have never had a body search, but have had a male doctor with his hand up my rectum.
In regards to something like an invasive body search, I would want it done by someone who made me feel comfortable. If I was detained, I doubt I would get such a luxury. Such a procedure is humiliating and I would want to get it over as quickly as possible with someone who was professional, regardless of their gender or LGBT status.
I can't say how I would feel if I was a woman.
Would it bother you if you had to undergo a body search and the person conducting it looked and sounded female and acted in a totally appropriate professional manner, but then later you found out this person was transgender?
What if the woman doing you body search looked transgender, with a deep voice and masculine features? Would you feel uncomfortable even if she behaved totally professional? Would any discomfort go away if you then found out the woman was married with 3 kids she had given birth to?
At some point in time we have to ask ourselves if our discomfort with a person is based on what kind of person they are on the inside or on who we perceive them to be from the outside.