Cops burst into women's restroom to remove butch lesbian, accusing her of being a man - LGBTQ Nation

"A cisgender woman in Arizona is speaking out after she says she was harassed by cops in the women's restroom of a Tucson Walmart late last month. Kalaya Morton, 19, of Phoenix, says she and her ex-girlfriend were using adjacent stalls in the store's women's restroom when two male sheriff's deputies entered. 'They were flashing lights on our feet and saying, 'You have to get out of here. You have to come out. We need to talk to you,'' Morton told ."

"Morton, who identifies as a stud - queer slang for a Black masculine-presenting lesbian - says she believes a store employee who had been eyeing her earlier reported her to the cops believing she was a man. As the Advocate notes, Arizona law does not dictate that people use public restrooms that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. In social media videos and in her interview with the outlet, Morton said that when she exited the bathroom stall, she lifted her shirt to prove to the deputies that she was a woman. But, she said, one of the deputies continued to insist she 'looked like a man.'"

"On February 19, Morton posted a brief video of the encounter, showing the two deputies in the women's bathroom. 'They came in here in the girls' restroom because I'm a girl and they didn't think I was a girl, so they tried to come take me away,' Morton can be heard saying off camera. 'The only men in the women's restroom were the cops,' she said."

Kalaya Morton, 19, of Phoenix, and an ex-girlfriend occupied adjacent stalls in a Tucson Walmart women's restroom when two male sheriff's deputies entered, shone lights on their feet, and ordered them to leave. Morton lifted her shirt to demonstrate she was a woman while a deputy persisted that she 'looked like a man.' A brief video posted February 19 shows the two deputies inside the women's bathroom. Morton identifies as a stud, a Black masculine-presenting lesbian, and believes a store employee reported her. Arizona law does not require restroom use based on sex assigned at birth. Political efforts to restrict restroom access have increased policing of women.

Read at LGBTQ Nation