A Boston hotel has suspended one of its security guards after investigating a Saturday incident in which a woman says her gender and use of the women’s bathroom were challenged.
The Liberty Hotel, which is located in Boston’s West End neighborhood, said in a Tuesday statement that it takes the matter “seriously,” and that its general manager reached out to the people involved in the incident that day. The hotel has also decided that all staff will undergo a mandatory retraining on “inclusive practices and guest interaction protocols, with a particular focus on creating a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ+ individuals.”
“In a reaffirmation of our values, the hotel is making a donation to a local LGBTQ+ organization that we have partnered with in the past, on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on May 17,” the statement reads.
Liberty Hotel later specified that the organization it will be donating to is BAGLY — a Boston-based LGBTQ+ youth advocacy non-profit.
“The Liberty Hotel is and always will be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and a place where everyone is welcome and celebrated. We will continue to educate and train of our team to ensure that everyone feels safe and accepted within our four walls, and guests who do not show tolerance and acceptance towards others will be removed,” the statement reads.
What happened
Ansley Baker told WBZ-TV that the incident happened while she and her girlfriend, Liz Victor, were attending a Kentucky Derby party at the hotel Saturday afternoon. The couple said that, while they were in the women’s restroom, hotel security began banging on the stalls.
“One of the security guards was there telling me to get out of the bathroom, that I was a man in the women’s bathroom,” Baker told the news station in an interview.
The couple told WBZ-TV that despite Baker’s insistence that she is a woman, she was escorted out of the bathroom by security. As she walked out, other women in line for the bathroom made jabs at her, such as “Get him out of here!” and “He’s a creep!,” she said.
In the hotel lobby, the male security guard asked for the couple’s IDs as verification of their sex, they told the news station. Tempers quickly rose, and the couple was ultimately asked to leave the hotel, which they did, Victor said.
Both Baker and Victor told WBZ-TV that they are cis women — meaning that they were both born with female anatomy and identify as women.
A previous statement from Liberty Hotel stated that the incident occurred after “several women alerted security of two adults sharing a bathroom stall,” the news station reported. The statement also alleged that one of the two women put their hands on a security guard, and that this led to them being kicked out of the hotel.
Baker and Victor “vehemently denied” being in the same stall, WBZ-TV reported.
“If that’s what he thought the issue was once he opened the stall door, obviously there was only one person in there, so it should’ve been case closed,” Victor said.
