Lesbian couple ‘humiliated’ after Cineworld guard who thought they were men kicked them out of the women’s toilets
'For the first time ever I feel ashamed of being myself,' said Keira Williams
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Your support makes all the difference.A lesbian couple have said they were humiliated after security guards allegedly mistook them for men and threw them out of the women’s toilets at their local cinema in east London.
Tracey Seaton, 28, and her girlfriend Keira Williams, 27, visited the Ilford branch of Cineworld to watch Annie, and used the bathroom there.
The couple claim a suspicious male guard followed them into the room, before staff shouted at them in front of other customers.
Ms Williams wrote on Facebook page: “I have never felt so humiliated in all my life.”
Referring to her and her girlfriend’s short hair and androgynous style, she added: “Just because me and my girlfriend look less than feminine is no reason to pull us out into a crowd of people because we went into the female toilets.
"For the first time ever I feel ashamed of being myself."
She added: "This should not happen to ANYONE. Not just the LGBT community, but anyone being made to feel like this is disgusting."
The couple said the manager offered the couple two free tickets and a £20 voucher, but added they had to explain that they are both women and therefore rejected the offer.
Williams added that the security guard who shouted at them did not apologise.
Cineworld launched an investigation into the incident during the Christmas holidays.
A spokesman from the company told the Evening Standard:"At Cineworld, we treat all customers equally regardless of gender, religion, race or sexuality. We have investigated this complaint fully and we have apologised to Tracey and Keira, in addition to offering them a good will gesture.
“In this case, our staff were responding to concerns expressed by other customers. We recognise that this could have been handled more sensitively by our security staff. We have spoken to the staff concerned to ensure that this does not happen again in future.”
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