Jessica Walton and her wife Charlie were celebrating their birthdays at a Strike Bowling Alley Saturday evening in Australia when they were asked to leave for using the women's toilets.
After finishing a game, the pair went to use the women's restroom. When they exited, a security guard stopped Charlie, according to a series of posts on Twitter from Walton.
Tonight my wife was threatened & discriminated against by an Executive Security Solutions guard at @StrikeBowling QV. She was told she was going to be forcibly removed from the premises for using the women’s toilet. We were celebrating our birthdays on a rare kid free date. pic.twitter.com/IVH01C4cXJ
— Jessica Walton (@JessHealyWalton) October 20, 2018
"She was told she was going to be forcibly removed from the premises for using the women’s toilet," Jessica Walton, an author, posted on Twitter. "The guard said if she didn’t leave the premises she would be removed forcibly. He called for a second guard. My partner was so scared. Imagine two guards approaching you to throw you out for going to the toilet!"
As she left the women’s toilets, a guard stopped her and aggressively told her to leave the premises (not the toilet, the entire @StrikeBowling venue). Char was incredibly upset and asked why. The guard said it was because she had used the women’s toilets!
— Jessica Walton (@JessHealyWalton) October 20, 2018
The guard said if she didn’t leave the premises she would be removed forcibly. He called for a second guard. My partner was so scared. Imagine two guards approaching you to throw you out for going to the toilet! I am shaking with rage as I type, @StrikeBowling.
— Jessica Walton (@JessHealyWalton) October 20, 2018
According to Walton, the couple then approached a manager who asked the security guard to apologize. The guard said the mistake was due to poor lighting. When she, as an amputee, struggled to get off her bowling shoes and needed her insulted wife's help, Walton burst into tears.
When Walton returned her shoes, still crying, she explained the situation to the person at the desk. Afterward, that staff member offered the couple vouchers and said they understand if they would not want to return to the venue.
The person who helped ameliorate the situation was nonbinary; but Walton felt it should not be on queer people to fix dilemmas caused by bigoted staff.
However it shouldn’t fall on LGBTIQA staff to make LGBTIQA customers feel safe and welcome. I want someone from both companies to apologise in writing to my wife and assure her that steps are being taken to organise LGBTIQA awareness training so this doesn’t happen again.
— Jessica Walton (@JessHealyWalton) October 20, 2018
READER COMMENTS (