Macy's Fires Employee For Refusing To Let Transgender Customer Use The Women's Dressing Room

Macy's may have become synonymous with the holiday shopping season after its appearance in the Christmas classic "Miracle on 34th Street," but not all is merry and bright at a Texas branch of the popular retail chain, where an employee was fired after she refused to allow a transgender woman to use the ladies' fitting room.

As the Houston Chronicle is reporting, an altercation erupted when store employee Natalie Johnson stopped a customer, whom she apparently described as a man in makeup and women's clothing, from entering the ladies' fitting room at the Macy's outlet in the San Antonio Rivercenter.

After officials ordered her to allow transgender customers to change in any dressing room they wished, Johnson reportedly said she could not allow a man to change in a women's dressing room due to her religious beliefs before being terminated. A spokeswoman for the store declined to comment on the incident, stating only, "At Macy’s we recognize and appreciate the diversity of our customers and associates."

Nonetheless, the case has sparked the ire of Liberty Counsel, an "international nonprofit litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989."

Mathew Staver, the organization's founder and chairman, condemned the the store chain's policy. “Macy’s policy which allows men to use the women’s dressing room is fraught with problems," he said in a statement. "This policy will cause significant problems and will alienate the majority of Macy’s customers." He went on to note, "Macy’s has essentially opened women’s dressing rooms to every man. The LGBT agenda has become the theater of the absurd."

It's not the first time the popular retail chain has come under fire in relation to transgender policies. One year ago, a Los Angeles outlet was sued by a transgender employee who alleged she was harassed while on the job.

View other recent cases of LGBT conflicts in various industries below:

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Comments

[Boston 019]

01:20 AM on 01/26/2012

Victoria's Secret has a TG-tolerance policy too- they can use the dressing rooms (they only have ladies' dressing rooms), but only if all the other stalls are empty. It seems like a fair compromise. VS salespeople are also required to perform bra fittings on TG customers if requested. Trans folk spend lots of money at VS, and VS (like Macy's) realizes the value of that demographic.

[Treagan]

05:50 AM on 01/24/2012

I love shopping at Macy's! I have never had any issues. I just show them my C.C. and they are more than willing to help me! Money Talks!

[dirtydog1776]

01:33 AM on 01/09/2012

The questions is whether you would want your daughter to be in the dressing room at the same time?

[Valerie Keefe]

03:26 AM on 01/11/2012

Better than her being in the dressing room with trans men.

Trans people aren't going to disappear, having existed since pre-history. Would you prefer this person be forced to use the women's showers? (Warning: Topless Person) http://buckangel.com/gallery/images/1.jpg

That's the logical extension of your argument. If you're more comfortable with him in the womens' showers and changing rooms and bathrooms than her: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5387074206_6ecd0fb474.jpg

Then let us trans people know. Soon enough, we'll say, 'to heck with it, let's take them at their word,' and use public accommodations that cissexists have demanded we use... but in groups of ten or so for safety's sake.

[Boston 019]

01:17 AM on 01/26/2012

They actually occupy a specific place in society in all cultures except the West.

[SteveDenver]

05:45 PM on 01/20/2012

I would be more fearful that a young woman would exposed to your brand of thinking.

[Christina-Xena]

07:42 PM on 12/18/2011

As a former Macy's employee, a woman's clothing specialist, I had a situation where a self-proclaimed Drag Queen came into my department, dressed as a man, and wanted to try on some woman's clothing and I was glad to help him. The fitting rooms were really self-contained ones with a mirror in each one. Also the doors were full coverage ones with "no see-in" slates, so privacy was VERY high. And there was no common area for self-viewing.

Yet once I let the guy into one fitting room (also please note this was a very slow time of the day so no other people were in my department) I got a phone call from store security. They apparently had been spying on the person by camera and was upset that I had let a male looking customer into a woman's fitting room.

I explained that this person was transgender, a Drag Queen, and was only in a very self contained private fitting room, yet they insisted that the straight-dressed transgender would have to take the feminine apparel down to the men's area and use male fitting rooms, which BTW were not as nearly as private designed. The transgender-DQ was pieved and dropped their items and immediately left the store.

Macy's is far from being concerned about Transgender customer rights as they advertise, and they don't consider the privacy issues built into customer fitting rooms, even if high privacy designed..

[Darlie Brewster]

07:06 AM on 12/22/2011

You are a good person.

[nohufffan]

05:59 AM on 12/14/2011

A spokeswoman for the store declined to comment on the incident, stating only, "At Macy’s we recognize and appreciate the diversity of our customers and associates."
I'm thinking no appreciation of the diversity of their associates in this case! The clerk was thinking of the 99%, not the 1%. Since most dressing rooms are nasty, my rule is: if you like it, buy it, take it home and try it, keep or return it... problem solved and no one suffers!

[LisaLore]

07:37 AM on 12/16/2011

The clerk was thinking of herself and her self-righteous beliefs. Not the 99%. Most of the 99% would never encounter this. Many wouldn't care if we did.

[Ystorm]

02:35 PM on 12/13/2011

thing of it is, a TG man is a guy that is either in the process of being a woman or actually thinking about it. Transgender is just that, trans-gender. He could not have used the mens fitting room now could he? Having experience with men that cross-dress, the ones I know, are just trying out clothing to see how it fits. Do you think its fair that they can't? I don't think its fair. While I understand about that whole "problem" many in our country have for this, its pretty rare, its exceedingly uncommon to find a man out in public like that, so have some compassion when you do. Sure the rules make it seem like any guy can go in there but REALLY? Would YOU let a regularly dressed man into that dressing room? Of course not!

[klwarner]

10:27 AM on 12/13/2011

Since when do you get to pass judgement on the customers of any place you've ever worked? Embarrass someone, call them out in public, and shame them in the middle of a store where they plan to spend their money. Why wouldn't a business fire someone who was alienating their spending customers? Outside of all the ignorance and fear taking place here, it's simply bad business, she deserved to go.

There was no instance of ANY woman being harassed, annoyed or made uncomfortable by this person's presence. And NO individual, ANYWHERE, has a responsibility to make you feel comfortable around them. Everyone deserves the right to live their life as they choose, and not be beholden to anything but the law. Any other judgement is wrong, and Macy's was correct in recognizing this. They're not losing a stitch of business over this, if anything they'll probably pick some up.

[rick raton]

04:51 AM on 12/13/2011

Many department stores "faux fire" employees for offending customers. They take a few days off and re-emerge somewhere else in the store.

[Rochelle Scavella]

06:35 PM on 12/12/2011

"This policy will cause significant problems and will alienate the majority of Macy’s customers." Mathew Staver, the organization's founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. Sorry, this policy will not cause me one ounce of sleepless night. Live and let live. Discrimination is not an option. We are all God's children.

[aphextwin07]

03:16 PM on 12/12/2011

so um, last I checked there was such a thing as unisex fitting rooms... this whole thing is nonsense.

[klwarner]

10:11 AM on 12/13/2011

Since when do attorneys get to determine someone's gender status?

[Ystorm]

03:42 PM on 12/13/2011

um..ed. think about this: if you wanted to be a peeping tom, would you go through the ordeal of dressing as a woman? if you do, then you might very well be a cross dresser. Yanno? These guys don't go in there for a thrill. nothing could be further from the truth. They live in fear of being discovered (many times), or fear of being rejected. Its not fun and games for them. So I take your post with much offense!

[LisaLore]

05:28 AM on 12/16/2011

Not to mention you can see a lot more female flesh on the Internet for free and with a lot less effort than you can dressing up as a woman and pretending to be transgendered so you can try on OTHER women's clothing in a women's changing area, where the nude flesh is behind locked doors anyway.

Seriously, the bizarre scenerios conjured up to attack Macy's for this policy boggle the mind.

[lovingthismoment50]

10:52 PM on 12/11/2011

Good riddance!

[Maney]

09:27 PM on 12/11/2011

I guess the need to feel superior outweighs the need to act morally.

[bergerqueen]

07:58 AM on 12/12/2011

dressing rooms are private areas, not public spaces where women see each other naked.

[Kate Fletcher]

06:45 PM on 12/13/2011

I would not have cared one bit. I would be far more "upset" at the sales person.

[Ami Munro]

06:34 PM on 12/10/2011

If Ms. Johnson didn't agree with the store's policy, she shouldn't work there.

[dirtydog1776]

01:32 AM on 01/09/2012

Maybe she should go on welfare? Obama likes people on welfare, they tend to vote for him.

[SteveDenver]

05:41 PM on 01/20/2012

Once again, a tiny mind manages to manipulate anything into "Obama's fault."

[placeboeffect]

05:34 PM on 12/10/2011

I am very sorry that it came to this. Couldn't a compromise be reached where she went through sensitivity classes? And if that didn't work moved to another department where she didn't have to deal with dressing rooms? Like being a night time janitor cleaning the toilets?

As a transgendered woman, I feel what she did was wrong. However, this feels like trying to force people to change their opinions. And that only serves to strengthen their convictions. A more... balanced approach should have been sought out first.

[bergerqueen]

08:04 AM on 12/12/2011

Opinions are one thing, behavior is another. Macy's did the right thing. They gave her a chance to amend her behavior and she chose to stand by her beliefs. Macy's could have been slapped with a big, fat discrimination lawsuit had they not taken action or sided with this woman and her religious beliefs. People whose religious beliefs infringe on the rights of others rarely find a balanced approach to life and how they treat others.

[Ystorm]

03:44 PM on 12/13/2011

agreed. opinions can't be forcefully changed, but the country can work toward more acceptance. i think there is a fear that if TG, or CD, or TV is more accepted, that people would want to do it, even if they aren't of that bent. Fanned and Faved placebo!