“To be called an ‘it,’ I’m a human being, not an ‘it.”
–Songwriter Tanya White

Here we go again with bathrooms.

Apparently last September, songwriter Tanya White was kicked out of the Beverly Hills Hotel’s women’s restroom because she looked too masculine. Oh — and apparently hotel security called her the anti-transgender pejorative “it” in the process, even though she’s a natal woman.

Well, now White and her attorney, Gloria Allred, are publicizing the incident. From the Los Angeles ABC affiliate (KABC – video included with the story):

A woman who says she was kicked out of the Beverly Hills Hotel while trying to use the restroom is demanding an apology.

Songwriter Tanya White admits she doesn’t dress like the typical woman, but she says security guards went too far when they confronted her in the women’s bathroom at the hotel last September.

White claims that even after proving she was a woman, they told her to get out and escorted her off the premises.

“The men said, ‘You need to get out of the bathroom.’ When Latrice said, ‘She’s supposed to be here, she’s a woman,’ security responded, ‘It needs to leave,’” said attorney Gloria Allred.

White isn’t asking for money — at this point, all she wants a public apology, and a changing of hotel policy to not discriminate on the basis of apparent gender or perceived sexual orientation.

Very reminiscent of the Caliente Cab restaurant incident.

Some of the “enlightened comments” of the ABC article readers/video watchers after the fold.

- Guess the answer is if you look like a man and dress like a man then what does she expect? Especially with the number of perverts around.

- If she walks and talks and looks like a duck, she shouldn’t be mad at being treated like a duck.

- Cool, now I can dress like a chick and hang out in the womens restroom !

- When you try to present yourself as something other than what you are it causes confusion and these are the results. She shouldn’t have been referred to as “it”, but she set herself up for this type of thing. I’ve found myself wandering what “it” is that has walked out of bathroom before because I couldn’t tell if the person was a man or woman. Again not saying it’s right but that’s how it went down.

- It figures, Gloria Allred to the rescue. if that person choses to dress and exhibit the appearance of a male, then she should have been challenged for the safety of the other patrons. I would have done the same thing if I were the security officers.

- I once walked into a restroom in an office building I had never been in and immediately saw a woman who looked and was dressed like a man and I immediately went out and looked again at the sillouette on the door because I thought I had walked into the men’s room by mistake – when I went back in, “she” said to me, you’re in the women’s room, and that she got that response all the time – you heard the song “dude looks like a lady” well, this “chick looked like a dude.” Sad and pathetic, if you ask me………

- What the heck did she expect being in the women’s restroom looking like a man! She needs to be slapped and told that if you enter into a facility where it causes doubt & suspicion then you should be prepared for the consequences. And to make matters worse, she (it) didn’t even bother to look like a girl on television. She (it) still looks like a man to me with that hat on and a man’s suit. Come on girl….dayuum! I don’t blame security at all. They did what they were suppose to do in this case.

- what if a little girl around 8, 9 or 10 went in this restroom by herself and saw “it” – how confused would she be not knowing if she should proceed to the toilet or run out of the restroom? You gotta be kidding me with that comment – people like “it” likes to play dangerous games – that’s why Alred is representing it.

- there is no way I would give this person an apology – when they leave out the door everyday they already know what to expect, so, people are not required to apologize for someone who looks ac/dc

So if one doesn’t conform to social gender norms — such as in the way one dresses or in the way one moves or gestures — then apparently (per the comments, anyway), one should expect to be treated badly when one uses a public restroom, should expect to be called “it,” and shouldn’t blame anyone but yourself for being harassed.

Yeah — blame the victim. I get the message loud and clear…Many members of the public believe it’s okay to be bigoted towards people whose gender presentations don’t fit within societal norms.