Her tweet echoed Sarah Huckabee Sanders, but her story had a much different ending
They both got kicked out of different restaurants on Friday. But only one suffered unjust treatment.
While White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders used her government Twitter account on Saturday to criticize a private business that politely asked her to leave, Charlotte Clymer shared a story of her own. Both women were ejected from a restaurant on Friday, but the similarities end there.
"Last night, I was told by the manager of @CubaLibreDC that I couldn't use the women's restroom, and after challenging his discrimination with D.C. law and responding to his threat of calling the police w/ "please do so", I was forcibly removed from the restaurant."
Clymer, who happens to be a press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, wrote those words at the start of a sprawling Twitter thread that has since gone viral. In the thread, Clymer describes the series of events that led to her being thrown out of the D.C. restaurant.
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Clymer ignored the attendant's request and made use of the restaurant's facilities. She actually heard him enter the women's restroom at one point, apparently searching for her. He was "doing everything but opening the stall doors" and eventually left.
When Clymer finished up and went to rejoin her friends, she was confronted at the restroom door by both the attendant and the restaurant's manager. The latter claimed D.C. law stated that a person "must have 'female' on your ID to use the women's restroom." Clymer told him he was wrong and again refused the request.
The exchange continued, with the manager insisting he was correct even after Clymer called up the text of D.C.'s restroom laws on her phone. At one point, the manager threatened to call the cops. But when Clymer encouraged him to do it, he simply told her to leave.
Shortly after, a bouncer escorted her out. Just another night in Donald Trump's America. But this is where the story turns in a more positive direction.
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So Clymer called the cops. She admits in subsequent tweets that she was uncertain about her decision, but that the D.C. police dispatcher she spoke with set her mind at ease.
Then, the responding officers turned out to be "patient and kind" as they caught up on what had happened, acknowledged D.C.'s restroom laws, and radioed for an LGBTQ liaison.
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The thread goes on from there to shout out a few others who acted as allies. Clymer also cops to her privilege, and how it helped her through what happened.
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It's a message she doubled down on in an email exchange with Mashable.
"I would only add that it deeply concerns me how transgender people who aren't white or have financial privilege or good connections negotiate these kind of situations," Clymer wrote. "No LGBTQ person should encounter this, let alone in a city as progressive as D.C."
You should really read the whole thread though.
The story has spread far and wide on Twitter thanks to retweets from and interactions with a range of public figures, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Rolling Stone writer Jamil Smith, and former First Daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
Credit as well to Clymer, whose canny phrasing of her initial tweet -- mirroring Sanders' own -- no doubt helped the thread go viral as well. Her story surfacing alongside what happened to Sanders turned out to be an illuminating study in contrasts.
Topics Activism Social Good X/Twitter
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
