Lesbians Thrown Out Of Cinema Toliets after Staff Thought They Were Men

Tracey Seaton3

A lesbian couple have been thrown out of the toilets at the Cineworld Cinema in Ilford, UK after staff mistook them for men. Keira-Louise Williams and Tracey Seaton, claim to have been accosted when they went to the Cinema to watch the film Annie before Christmas, and are now campaigning to ensure other couples are not treated in the same way.

Happier Times: Couple were "humiliated" by staff.

Couple were “humiliated” by staff.

The cinema chain has offered the couple two free tickets as compensation but they have refused the offer. On Facebook Williams claims to be “snappy and miserable” because of the incident and has asked supporters to keep sharing her status update to put pressure on the company. She said: “We have contacts through friends that other people don’t have the opportunity to have.

“If us sharing what happened to us stops just one person from feeling they way we feel right now, then we have won against that place and their non-existent policy and training.” Earlier the 27-year-old had said she felt “humiliated” by staff who thought she was a man.

The pair say they left the toilet and were approached by three men: the manager, a security guard and another man who identified himself as another security officer but was not in uniform. They claim the uniformed officer shouted at them, even as the manager tried to defuse the situation. At one stage the man who was not in uniform took his rucksack off, which Ms Williams took to be a threat of violence.

She said: “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. It’s completely ruined our day, and for the first time ever I feel ashamed of being myself.

“The staff at Ilford cineworld is the rudest I’ve ever come across [sic], and I’m not being funny but two free tickets isn’t compensation for their disgusting behaviour towards us. Even after we explained we were both female, we were intimidated and belittled.”

Their campaign continues.

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