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An incident at a gaming arcade and bar in the Chicago area recently had a transgender man and staff at odds over their definitions of safety and discrimination.
Lucien Bates, who is transgender and presents as alt-masculine with facial hair and piercings, was visiting Round1 Bowling & Arcade at the North Riverside Park Mall outside Chicago in September with his fiancé, when the pair decided to use the restroom before gaming.
Bates told the Windy City Times that he opted to use the women’s bathroom, where he said he feels more comfortable and less likely to be harassed.
“I typically feel safer in the women’s restroom, which I guess kind of bit me in the butt this time,” he said.
Before entering, Bates says he checked in with his fiancé and a friend to make sure they were okay accompanying him.
“It’s something that we have to think about often — making that decision about which one to go in, which one’s going to be safer,” Bates said of his bathroom choice.
Within minutes, a female security guard entered the restroom and told Bates, “You know you can’t be in here, right?”
The security guard refused to clarify what she meant, Bates said, and only kept repeating that Bates was “not supposed to be in there.”
“Eventually it got to the point where she was like, ‘You need to be in the bathroom that matches your ID,’” Bates said.
Bates refused to share his ID with the guard, he said, explaining that his fiancé had shown his own, which matched the restroom they were in.
After the group declined to leave, the guard then called for backup, Bates said, and three more security guards entered.
That’s when things started getting ugly.
“They just kept saying, ‘You should know what you’re doing is wrong,’ but they wouldn’t say it outright,” Bates recounted. “Eventually, they said it was dangerous for us to be in the restroom because children visit the facility.”
When Bates and his escorts did leave the restroom, they were confronted with another group of guards now stationed outside the door.
One of the guards “started just screaming in my face,” Bates said. “He just kept saying, ‘You’re going to get arrested,’ but wouldn’t tell me why. I was already on my way out, and now they’re threatening to arrest me — for what exactly?”
Bates and his fiancé decided to leave the arcade but returned to ask for a manager’s contact information to file a complaint.
They were immediately confronted by another staff member, who yelled, “What do you guys want? You have to be out of here,” Bates recalled.
When Bates started recording a video as they were escorted back outside, the manager showed up and told Bates the issue was “loitering.”
“That’s interesting, because I have not heard the word ‘loitering’ from anyone on your staff until right now,” he recalled telling her.
Bates told her the confrontation was “dehumanizing.” The manager responded, “Sorry this happened.”
By all appearances, the security team didn’t share that sentiment.
“Every security guard was smiling and waving cheerfully as we were leaving,” Bates said, providing a pic of the group doing just that.
The guards continued to watch them while Bates and his fiancé sat in his car outside the venue. Guards in cars drove by them several times.
Bates said he later filed complaints with both Round1 and the North Riverside Park Mall, and that a manager offered to add money to his arcade card.
In an emailed statement, a rep for Round1 said the company is “taking this matter very seriously, and that appropriate corrective measures have been taken.”
“Round1 does not tolerate discrimination of any kind — whether by or toward employees, guests, or third parties (such as security, vendors, or contractors),” the statement read. “This includes, but is not limited to, discrimination based on race, color, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, identity, religion, age, or disability.”
Despite those “corrective measures,” Bates is reluctant to return.
“They ruined my whole day,” the Dance Dance Revolution fan said.
“They ruined a place that I liked, and they had enough people who wouldn’t say anything to get away with what they did.”
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