A transgender woman is looking for answers after she said security kicked her out of a southwest Florida nightclub because she used the women's restroom.
Piper Ayers told NBC affiliate WBBH-TV that she and a group of friends went to the Dixie Roadhouse in Cape Coral and went to use the restroom - where she was told by security she had to use the men's restroom.
Ayers said she was told by security they don't allow men to use the women's restroom. After her friends began to question the situation, the management of the club got involved.
“So we went and talked to the manager, and the only thing he could say is what it says on your ID,” Ayers recalled.
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Ayers has not legally changed her name and gender on her state identification yet.
“The next thing you know, they grab a hold of me and start shoving me out the front door,” Ayers recalled.
Several members of Ayers' group said they tried to reason with officials from the club.
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“This is a woman, a trans woman, and you need to understand what that is," Sean Kellier told security guards. "This is not a drag queen or a cross-dresser. This is a trans girl, and you need to treat her as a lady."
Dixie Roadhouse - which has a sign on the door warning customers that if they're "racist, sexist, homophobic, or just a jerk, not to enter" - did not respond to the station's request for comment.
Ayers says she left feeling worthless, and like she wasn’t a person with feelings or emotions.
"Just no respect," she said tearfully.
