Discrimation at Florence, SC JC Penney (Magnola Mall)
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!
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!
