Transgender woman left in tears after she was told to use male changing room in Debenhams
Shopping and trying on new outfits can be a pleasurable experience for most people but for one transgender woman it turned into a nightmare. A "transphobic" shop worker at Debenhams in Glasgow refused to let the transgender woman use the female changing room at the store.
25-year-old Jay Campbell, who is from Carluke, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, was out looking for the perfect wedding guest dress when she decided to go to a Debenhams in Glasgow. When she had found the perfect dress and wanted to go try it on to see if it was a perfect fit, a shop worker blocked her from going into the female changing room.
Campbell has been living as a woman for two years now and she had been taking estrogen hormones for about four months when the incident occured.
The hairdresser said she was left "upset and sick" by staff at the Debenhams store on Argyle Street who insisted she use the men's trial room.
Campbell appealed to all her friends and followers on social media after her horrifying encounter. She wrote: "So today I went to pick up my wedding outfit."
"I went and got it and went to the changing room (female) and was told I can’t use it and to go all the way down stairs to use the gents changing room. I was so upset and sick of having to explain myself."
Campbell went to the nearby store of House of Frasers after she accused the staff in the Debenhams store of treating her like she was some kind of "freak".
She wrote: "I was about to spend a fair bit of money on the outfit but after being treated like a freak I threw the dress at her and went to the House of Fraser staff to pick a different one and all I can say is that the staff at Frasers were so nice and helpful. I won’t be shopping in Debenhams ever again. Debenhams are transphobic."
Social media users and her followers came to the rescue of the hairdresser and rallied around her after the traumatic experience she went through.
Jane Campbell wrote: "That’s shocking. You need to take it further. They need to update the policy." Another user wrote: "This is disgusting behaviour, how dare they treat you like that. Even through their lack of understanding what harm could it have done? Very sad times indeed."
A user named Haley Gray wrote: "Keep your head held high Jay. You are beautiful inside and out and shouldn’t be made to feel less than what you are. You are female so you should be able to use your own changing room regardless of transition stage."
Alexander Marie wrote: "U look all woman to me hun unfortunately in this world there will be complete dickheads n sadly we can’t change people’s way of thinking but don’t let that one arsehole define who u r I’d defo take it further I’d speak to head of management n tell them how it made u feel and want a full apology good luck n remember u look fabulous ( don’t know u personally but some pls attitudes sickin me."
A spokesperson for Debenhams said in a statement: "We are sorry for any distress caused to the customer. Debenhams changing rooms are not gender specific.”
Debenhams also assured that it was “currently investigating the incident.”