Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Boston is one of my favorite hotels in the city (review here). It’s a former prison that has been repurposed into a luxury hotel. I love the decor, rooms, and location. Unfortunately, a hotel security guard has ruined this great place for one woman who was followed into the restroom and made to show identification to verify her gender.
Ansley Baker and her girlfriend, Liz Victor, were at the hotel for a Kentucky Derby party on Saturday. Baker went to the restroom where she was reportedly confronted by a male security guard who stormed in and demanded that she provide identification to prove her gender. Baker was in one of the stalls and Victor was near the sink when she says the guard began banging on the door.
She was born a woman and identifies as a woman, but that did not matter in this case. She was escorted out of the restroom and says that other women waiting in line made disparaging comments about her being a man and a creep. Once outside of the restroom, Baker says that their IDs were checked, but instead of an apology they were asked to leave the hotel.
CBS News shared a statement from the hotel. It reads:
An incident occurred at the Liberty Hotel on Saturday, May 3 where several women alerted security of two adults sharing a bathroom stall. The bathroom was cleared out as two adults in one stall are not permitted. After leaving the bathroom, a member of the couple from the stall put their hands on our security team and it was then that they were removed from the premises. The Liberty Hotel has a zero-tolerance policy for any physical altercations on our property. The safety of our guests and staff is our priority, and this event is under investigation. The Liberty Hotel is and always will be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and a place where everyone is welcome and celebrated.”
Further investigation made the hotel do an about face with a totally different outcome. A new statement says that the security guard was “suspended from their position immediately” and that the hotel was holding “mandatory retraining for all staff on inclusive practices and guest interaction protocols, with a particular focus on creating a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ+ individuals.”
A donation was made to a local LGBTQ+ organization, but this damage recovery is too little, too late for the impacted couple. They have reached out to the mayor’s office and want to make sure that similar incidents do not happen to anyone else.
Anthony’s Take: This is disgusting. The transphobia that has been ratcheted up in this country is now impacting biological women being accused of not being their gender. The security guard was so wrong and I’m happy that the hotel investigated further and realized what had happened. I do believe that this was an individual acting alone, but it is representative of how many feel, unfortunately.
(Image Credit: WBZ-TV.)
User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
As a Gay man, I must come to the defense of my Lesbian friends – some Lesbians have “butch” haircuts which make them look more masculine. All gender bathrooms would solve this problem immediately.
But getting rid of completely private stalls would be a problem – where else would bible thumping conservative republican men go to have sex with other bible thumping conservative republican men when attending RNC meetings ?