Protesters clashed outside a spa in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles after a recent customer posted an online video of herself ridiculing staff for allowing a transgender woman to change in the women's changing area.
The viral video, posted in late June, was taken by a woman who apparently opposed the existence of transgender people altogether.
She attacked the employee behind the front desk at Wi Spa, claiming she and other cisgender women—even though she was alone—were "highly offended" by the transgender woman's presence in the facilities.
When the staff attempted to tell the woman why they allow transgender customers—it's the law in California—to use the facilities that align with their gender identity, the woman refused to listen.
"I see a di**. It let's me know he's a man. He's a man."
Later, when a bystander attempted to intervene in defense of the transgender customer, the woman shot it down immediately, saying, "there is no such thing as transgender."
When the video was posted on Twitter by a fellow bigot with his own transphobic commentary, it quickly went viral.
A woman confronted the staff at the Wi Spa in Los Angeles after a man walked into the women's section with his genitals hanging out in front of girls. He identified as a "woman." The employees said he had a right to do that. The employees say that it's the law. \n\nPart 1pic.twitter.com/m1VbU0WU6A— Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com (@Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com) 1624766077
The woman was confronted by a woke male ally who tried to insist that the man was "transgender."\n\n"It must be hard not being a real man, huh? Try it."\n\nPart 2pic.twitter.com/PjdV9pXE75— Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com (@Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com) 1624766084
The widely seen video, which was even praised by Fox News' Tucker Carlson, galvanized far-right, anti-LGBTQ people to gather outside the spa for a protest a few days later.
But when LGBTQ-supporting folks heard about that, they came out to counter protest.
That's when things got very heated, as another video captured.
According to NBC News, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Frank Lopez shared that the protest event was deemed an unlawful assembly.
One person sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby medical facility. People who saw reports of the clashes were filled with commentary.
Mainly, they were critical of how it all began.
If you're comfortable enough to bring a child into an area where adult women will be undressing & that child asks questions about women's bodies, you should be prepared to answer those questions in as calm a way as possible.\n\nIf you freak, you're not mature enough to be there.— EmpireEm ANastyWoman (@EmpireEm ANastyWoman) 1625585799
Maybe they just need to address their self righteous biogotry?— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8patriotic cats \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8expel seditionists (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8patriotic cats \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8expel seditionists) 1625571347
Don\u2019t look if you don\u2019t want to see. It\u2019s not that hard to divert you eyes if you so offended— Liza loves to read (@Liza loves to read) 1625596247
Americans are maybe too privileged. Imagine being \u201ctraumatized\u201d by a naked human body.— jellenp (@jellenp) 1625572740
Traumatized over what? Nudity? Get real.— Angela Monger (@Angela Monger) 1625598202
Americans are frightened by genitalia— \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \u0455t\u0454v\u0454 wh\u00edt\u0454 \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f (@\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \u0455t\u0454v\u0454 wh\u00edt\u0454 \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f) 1625582086
Time will tell if any further developments ensue outside the spa.
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