Trans woman ‘shoved out of nightclub by security for using the bathroom’
Piper Ayers, pictured on a night out with a drag performer, says she was kicked out of Dixie Roadhouse. (NBC-2)
A transgender woman said she feels “worthless” after allegedly being asked to leave a nightclub for using the women’s bathroom.
According to local news outlet NBC-2, Piper Ayers and her friends were at Dixie Roadhouse nightclub in Cape Coral, Florida on Friday (2 September) when staff asked her to leave.
TJ Jackson, Ayers’ friend, told the news outlet security guards said they “don’t allow men to use the women’s restrooms”, before ejecting them.
Ayers said she tried to explain to security she had not yet changed her ID card, meaning it doesn’t accurately reflect her gender identity.
“The next thing you know, they grab ahold of me and start shoving me out the front door,” she said.
“We went and talked to the manager, and the only thing he could say is: ‘What it says on your ID.'”
She said the incident happened despite an inclusive sign at the entrance of Dixie Roadhouse reading: “If you are racist, sexist, homophobic, or just a jerk… don’t come in.”
Ayers told NBC-2: “We decided to come on down here to Dixie to have a little fun.
“I just felt worthless. Like I wasn’t a person, or I didn’t have feelings or emotions. Just no respect.”
Florida has made headlines in recent months for its passing of anti-LGBTQ+ and specifically anti-transgender laws, most notably its Don’t Say Gay law which bans discussions of LGBTQ+ lives in schools.
In August of this year, the state banned transgender residents from using medical assistance programme Medicaid to obtain gender-affirming healthcare, including hormone medications and surgery.
The ban – similar to measures in several other states including Arizona, Missouri and Texas – is anticipated to affect the care of approximately 9,000 transgender Floridians.
LGBTQ+ civil rights organisations including Lamda Legal said in a statement they would “fight this rule and defend the rights of transgender people in Florida in whatever forum necessary to protect their rights to access health care coverage”.
PinkNews has contacted Dixie Roadhouse for comment.
