Probably not but after you read this isolated story, you should at least wonder if they have policies similar to "Macy's".
March 3, 2012
To Whom It May Concern,
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Markielynn Rundell. I
am a transgendered female. I have been patronizing your stores since I
was a young child. I have always visited your stores dressed as a
transgendered female. Each time I visited, I enjoyed my shopping
experience. Selecting clothing that I wanted to buy, and of course
trying on the outfits before buying them was always a must. Of course
being a transgendered female, I have always used the woman’s dressing
room. Up until today I did so with no problems at all.
Today, Saturday March 3, 2012, my wife Lori, girlfriend Lana, and I
visited your Florence, SC Magnolia Mall store for some fun filled
shopping. Tonight at approximately 7:00 pm, I picked out 2 dresses that I
had planned to purchase from your store. Of course I had to try them
on, so I entered the woman’s fitting room. There were 3 stalls located
within the dressing room. The first stall was occupied; the second stall
was full of clothing, so I used the third stall. I tried on the first
dress. When I exited the dressing stall to go show Lori and Lana what
the dress looked like on me, one of your employees, a female
African-American, who was standing in the second stall, said to me “Sir,
you cannot use this dressing room”. I immediately told her politely
that I was a woman. When I left the dressing room, I asked Lori to
please tell her that I am a woman. Lori told her that I was her
girlfriend. I went back into the dressing room and decided not to try on
the second dress because I realized it would be too small. When I was
redressing, I heard my wife Lori ask me if I was almost done because we
are leaving and we are not buying anything from this store. Unbeknown to
me, your employee went and got her supervisor, also an African-American
woman. We decided to leave your store immediately to avoid any farther
confrontation. I did not get the names of either employee. I just want
you to know that I was not only embarrassed, I was also hurt by the rude
way I was treated by one of your employees. I thought your store was
supposed to be LGBT friendly. You portray that image now that you have
Ellen DeGeneres as your official spokesperson. I have never felt so
discriminated against in my entire life. If this is how your employees
are going to treat a member of the LGBT community, I will be sure to
tell my entire LGBT friends not to shop at your stores because they will
be discriminated against.
On a personal note: I cannot use the men’s fitting room because I
have been undergoing transformation to become a fully functioning
female. Because I have been on Hormone Replacement Therapy, I have
developed breasts. Because I have breasts and am a transgendered female,
I would not feel safe or comfortable knowing that I could be seen by a
man using the men’s dressing room. Please tell me what dressing room I
am supposed to use if your policy to discriminate against transgendered
females who are minding their own business and simply using the woman’s
fitting room to try on clothing? This also goes for the bathroom in the
event a transgendered individual has to relieve themselves.
Sincerely,
Markielynn Rundell
To be
VERY clear, I am
NOT taking the entire JC Penny's company to task over this incident. I
AM taking them to task for not having a company policy; if indeed they don't.
If indeed Penny's doesn't have a policy (one way or another) then shame on them!
If indeed they want to exclude transgendered women and men from using their dressing rooms then say so and we can shop elsewhere. On the other hand it is no secret many other women's clothing chains have learned to welcome the patronage (money) of the transgendered public.
Two more points. I picked up this story from the "
TG Forum" and I really admire the courage of Markielynn for taking it public!
