Transgender Dispute Prompts Denny's in Maine to Change Restroom Policy
07/12/2011 Reported By: Susan Sharon
http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNewsArchive/tabid/181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3475/ItemId/17192/Default.aspxThe operator of a chain of Denny's restaurants in Maine has agreed to allow customers to choose restrooms based on their stated gender identity. The agreement comes in response to a lawsuit brought by a transgender woman who was denied access to the women's restroom at a Denny's in Auburn. It also follows an unsuccessful attempt by a Maine lawmaker to allow restaurant owners to restrict restroom use to a customer's biological sex.
Brianna Freeman was a regular customer at the Denny's in Auburn who used the women's restroom for years before she was told in 2007 that another customer had complained about it. Freeman, who is five-foot-six with long, red hair and pierced ears, says she was humiliated when the Denny's manager asked to speak to her outside.
"And he said that I would no longer be able to use the women's restroom. That, of course, upset me and kind of humiliated me--like, you know, I can't have this," Freeman says.
