Lesbian mistaken for trans woman in woman's bathroom in Arizona

[Christinapple]

https://www.advocate.com/news/lesbian-mistaken-transgender-arizona-walmart

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/masculine-looking-cis-woman-confronted-by-cops-in-walmart-restroom-kalaya-morton-demands-justice-video/ar-AA1AdWpn

But I thought people "can always tell"?

It also led to the irony the only males in the bathroom were two male police officers who were notified by a store employee who mistakenly thought a male had entered the woman's toilets.

"In an alarming incident at a Tucson, Arizona Walmart, 19-year-old Kalaya Morton*, a Black cisgender lesbian, was confronted by two male sheriff’s deputies while using the women’s restroom, sparking outrage and a demand for accountability.
Morton, who identifies as masculine-presenting or a “stud,” recounted the humiliating encounter that occurred when a store employee erroneously assumed she was a transgender woman. The saga began innocuously enough: Morton had entered the restroom with her ex-girlfriend, who was kindly handing her a tampon— an act of friendship that, unfortunately, soon spiraled into something far more troubling. In an exclusive interview with The Advocate, Morton detailed her shock when the two deputies barged in, shining flashlights into the restroom stall.

“You have to get out of here. You have to come out. We need to talk to you.” Imagine trying to pee in peace, only to have the police storm in like it’s an episode of Cops: Restroom Edition.
“I’m still using the restroom. I’m sitting down, I’m peeing. What is the issue?,” Morton incredulously told the deputies as she sat there.
Now, while most people hope for a streamlined bathroom experience, Morton was treated more like a suspect than a bathroom user. The deputies apparently needed to crack the case of “Who Looks Like a Man in the Ladies’ Room,” a particularly absurd mystery, if you ask us."

Well, yes, it's tricky because men might be needed to remove a male intruder. But these men don't seem very good at sexing people even at close quarters!

I bet it was set up for the purpose of trying to get mixed sex toilets back.
Either that or just didn't happen

This!!

Nobody's said that, have they. 🙄

Actually, this has happened to me, MakeYourOwnMusicStartYourOwnDance,
I've been told 'This is the ladies' a few times, and replied with a smile and 'That's OK, I'm in the right place'. End of. I wasn't offended.

Now that men are making a whole campaign of invading women's spaces, I'd be even less offended, if that was possible.

Maybe we should all wear floaty dresses and grow our hair long or whatever to lessen our chances of being thought of as not a woman?
I can't imagine why any lesbian would want to deliberately look so much like a man that she could by-pass the usual ability of us women to identify each other, but hey, each to their own..
Decisions like that have their consequences, though , and if I decided to go so butch that I could pass for a man, I'd have to take into account that my presence in women's single-sex spaces would be problematic for all concerned, and I'd give some thought to how I was going to deal with that.

Fortunately for us lesbians, there is a whole big spectrum of styles in between your very unimaginative extremes of 'looking just like a man' and 'growing our hair long and wearing floaty dresses'.

And so because this woman was inconvenienced perhaps we should never separate anything by sex again, is that what you are saying?

Confused. Masculine women are still women. I don't understand why this means we should allow men in our bathrooms or why it's women's fault for being worried about it?
Shouldn't we be blaming men for all the fall out here? If they respected women's boundaries, this wouldn't be an issue.

I've been called Sir. I've been called Mr BiologicalRobot. I did not scream, faint or keel over dead. Real women brush it off and get on with life.

Biological men should not be allowed in female spaces for any reason, especially this crap one which you are peddling 🙄

Butch women being mistaken for men and called out for it happens quite a lot, in my experience. More usually by women than men, so it's nonsense to say all women can correctly tell the sex of people.

I've had it happen to me in a far less intimidating way, and it is pretty embarrassing. Not a reason to say men should be allowed in women's toilets, obviously, but it's a bit disappointing to see that most people posting don't have the capacity to have some sympathy for her experience.

I suppose female officers weren't close enough? If they planned patrolling, they would get a woman to do it, but when responding to potential incident, it doesn't make sense to wait for a female officer to come from further away.

Anyway, if men, no matter how they identify themselves, stayed in gents, women wouldn't need to worry, no matter how feminineor not they look.

My SIL called out a man in a dress for using the ladies in her local pub. When the man frequents the pub as a man he uses the mens facilities. When he decides to wear a dress “He’s a Lady” and uses the ladies facilities, it’s simply outrageous. The landlords of the pub did nothing, what a piss take!

I knew too......we must be psychic 🔮

Ive been mistaken for a bloke loads of times. I really don't understand why it's a news story that a butch lesbian got mistaken for a man?
I don't think police or security should be harrasing people in public toilets even if they are the wrong sex for it. I think thats way too heavy handed and intrusive.
Thats America for you I guess!

Really? Being targeted while having a pee is acceptable to you? Wow

I've had my sex questioned a few times, and I'd rather be questioned any day than have men in women's spaces. I wish all women always felt able to speak up.
Edited to add - this is safeguarding. I'm not a criminal but I don't object to doing dbs checks for work.

As explained repeatedly above, this is the least worst option. When revolting predators like Katie Dolatowski are given free rein to use female facilities, women will be on their guard. In scolding women and girls for being alert, you are enboldening the likes of him.

"Scolding" 🙄
It's not scolding, and seems it's ok if some women get harassed and challenged/feel intimidated and accused of being a man just for trying to go to the toilet?
Least worst option. Wow. Ok

She wasn't mistaken for a transwoman she was mistaken for a man. No idea why you have used that title for the thread.

something dodgy about this story imo.

The store employee had time to notice her going into the restroom, decide to call the police and for the police to get the call, drive to the shop, park, walk into the shop, and find the restroom. From the live! american cop shows/real body cam footage I've seen, none of this is done at a run in any non-emergency situation.

How long does this woman pee for, for her to still be going while all this happened? Surely for most people time walking into loo and back out takes a minute or two, tops, and that's including the re-dressing and handwashing stage which this woman hadn't even got to!

And why is the detail of her going in with her ex who was lending her a tampon relevant at all? Why did the ex have to accompany her in there to give her the tampon? Why didn't the ex interfere and tell them she was a woman so she didn't have to come out of the stall, if she was in there with her?

It's your fault, Chris, and that of other TRAs that this is happening!

It's the height of enough to blame women for a problem of your own making.

You know by now that women are not responsible for what men do.

TRAs - stay out of the ladies.

Job done.

I will say I think race and sexuality are relevant here - if you are a black lesbian living with a background of institutional police racism and heavy handedness, a lack of social regard for lesbians and a mysognistic culture, then you might well not view the police as just doing their job.

That doesn't mean no one should ever be challenged.

something dodgy about this story imo
What happened to "we believe her?"
Or is this only "we'll believe a woman but only if it fits my narrative. Then you must be making it up/ something dodgy about this"
🙄

If the cops were male, this would absolutely be the reason.

I used to work with a very ''Diesel Dyke'' woman, but it was easy to see she was a woman.

She would no way be mistaken for a man.

I have looked at the TikTok and the camera footage is very swishy but from what I can see the ladies toilets look like they have a good gap between the floor and the door. It was mentioned one woman was being handed a tampon by another so (if that was outside to inside with the door closed) that is the sight lines for a collapsed body to be seen. This means if anyone has a medical emergency or is being assaulted inside a cubicle, the design is much safer. The gaps are there for visible and acoustic safety and better cleaning and disease spread prevention. It is also safer as it leads to quicker rescue times in an emergency building evacuation. Safety over total privacy.

What kind of toilet design would you think was best @Christinapple ? Transactivist toilet/restroom designers go for mixed sex spaces including wash basins with totally private toilet cubicles. That’s least safe for everyone.

End of. I wasn't offended

Good for you (genuinely)
It can feel threatening being challenged or being told you look like a man though.
Not everyone can just laugh it off or shrug it off as easily as you