A woman in the USA has shared her story of using a public restroom in a Boston Hotel only to be confronted by a security guard accusing her of being in the wrong bathroom.
Ansley Baker and Liz Victor said they were out enjoying the Kentucky Derby at the Liberty Hotel last weekend when they were suddenly kicked out of the venue.
Baker, who is a cis-gender woman is six foot tall and has short hair, and she shared her experience online of being confronted by a security guard who confronted her and demanded to see her ID to prove her sex.
The couple say the security guard banged on the door of the toilet stall Baker was using and demanded she exit. Baker was then escorted out of the bathroom with other women waiting in line reportedly calling her a “creep”.
In the lobby they demanded to see her identification documents, and even though she showed that she was born female, she was asked to leave.
The hotel hit back with an Instagram post saying that several guests had alerted security to “two adults occupying the same bathroom stall” which is against their rules, and claimed that one of the women had made physical contact with the guard.
But, after the conducted an investigation the hotel put out a different statement saying the security guard had been immediately suspended, their manager’s were reaching out to the couple, and all staff would be undergoing mandatory training focusing on creating a safe environment for people from the LGBTIQA+ communities.
They also announced they were making a significant donation to an LGBTIQA+ charity, one they had previously worked with to mark IDAHOBIT Day.
Baker and Victor are glad the venue is taking steps, but are disappointed they have not retracted their statement accusing the two women of being in the same stall, something they say never happened. They’ve filed an official discrimination complaint against the hotel.
Incidents of “Bathroom Police’ are growing
Instances of women who are not feminine looking being confronted in public space are growing, and have been spurred on by growing anti-transgender rhetoric and the Executive Orders of US President Donald Trump.
Last year athlete Lindsay Walter shared her story of being confronted in an US airport bathroom. Walter is female but has alopecia, meaning she is bald.
Here in Australia comedian Mitchell Coombs shared his experience of being attacked in the bathroom of a Sydney pub when a group of men began banging on his cubicle door and shouting transphobic slurs. The male comedian has long hair.
Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was also forced to issue an apology after she confronted a woman in the restroom of the US Capitol building who she suspect of being transgender.
