Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Teen Says Restaurant Server Forced Her To ‘Prove’ Her Gender In Disturbing Altercation
A Buffalo Wild Wingssports bar in Owatonna, Minnesota, has been accused of discrimination after one of its servers forced a patron to prove their gender in the girls’ bathroom.
Gerika Mudra, 18, had visited the venue over the Easter season with a friend and noticed from the start of their dining experience that the proprietor gave her and her companion a cold shoulder.
Highlights
- Gerika Mudra claims a server banged on the bathroom door and called her man.
- Gender Justice emphasizes that Minnesota law protects against discrimination and stereotyping.
- Mudra says the incident has left her uncomfortable using public bathrooms.
Mudra has since taken the matter to the equality advocacy group Gender Justice and filed charges against the organization in accordance with the state’s laws.
RELATED:
Eighteen-year-old Mudra Gerika claims she felt the hostility as soon as she entered the bar
Image credits: Gender Justice
Gender Justice has documented the claim on its website and YouTube, grabbing the attention of netizens and mainstream media outlets alike.
In a video, Gerika–a multi-racial lesbian–claimed the cold treatment began as soon as they set foot in the bar.
She described the staff as “rude” and claimed that, unlike with all the other patrons, they did not wish them a happy Easter.
Image credits: freepik
“The whole time she was just looking at us,” Mudra said of the proprietor, whom she accused of gossiping about them to her underlings.
The server came in and banged on the bathroom door while Gerika was on the loo
Then, at some point, Mudra decided to go to the bathroom. Once she was in the stall, a server banged on the door, yelling: “This is a women’s restroom. The man needs to get out of here.”
Image credits: Jessie McCall / Unsplash
The 18-year-old stepped out of the bathroom and told the intrusive staffer, “I am a lady,” to which the staffer responded: “You have to get out now.”
At that point, Mudra felt obligated to prove her gender and unzipped her hoodie to show the server her upper half.
The Buffalo Wild Wings turned tail and fled without another word.
Gerika says she no longer uses public bathrooms
Image credits: Gender Justice
While the establishment and its condescending workforce may have been left with egg on their faces, Gerika says the experience has left a lingering bad taste.
“She made me feel very uncomfortable,” she said of the server who confronted her.
“After that, I just don’t like going in[to] public bathrooms. I just hold it in. … I want to be able to use the bathroom in peace.”
Image credits: Gender Justice
Sara Jane Baldwin, who serves Gender Justice as a senior attorney, has since also commented on the debacle.
A Gender Justice attorneysays the bar will be held liable for the incident
Speaking at a press conference on August 12, Baldwin pointed out that the bathroom altercation resulted from assumptions made by the bar’s staff.
She underscored Minnesota’s legislature that protects against discrimination and stereotypes and said:
“Businesses have a legal obligation not to just have anti-discrimination policies on paper, but to train staff and ensure that those policies are followed in real time,” per an August 12 NBC report.
“When that doesn’t happen, the business is liable for the harm caused.”
In a separate statement, the organization pointed out that the issue was not exclusive to the Owatonna establishment but rather part of a broader pattern.
Image credits: Gender Justice
“This wasn’t just wrong, it was illegal. And it’s part of a larger, dangerous trend,” the website states.
Going by the public’s reaction, Gerika’s situation can be handled differently
The public has not gotten its collective head around the incident. One person, who has likely never experienced anything of the sort, wrote:
“I can’t imagine anyone working in hospitality caring enough to even ask let alone making someone prove anything.”
Image credits: Gender Justice
“I remember the days you could go to a restaurant and order food and get food” said another, nostalgically.
A person who viewed things from the proprietor’s perspective feels they could have handled the matter diplomatically.
“As a parent I would have [gone] to have a nice chat with that employee,” they wrote. “She could have asked to see her ID or license. There are other ways of doing things without humiliation.”
The public wants heads to roll
Image credits: teemcee
Image credits: yes122412
Image credits: sos_wibisono
Image credits: SarahRamsingh
Image credits: tlfischer
Image credits: sue_wahoo
Image credits: mgresist
Image credits: DianeMcKenna22
Image credits: jad829
Image credits: anniemgc
Image credits: Vivek925
Image credits: Monkeynana0721
Image credits: gazer5000
Image credits: sxgnzls
Poll Question
Total votes ·
Thanks! Check out the results:
Total votes ·
Newsletter
Subscribe to Access
Exclusive Polls
By entering your email and clicking Subscribe, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! You've successfully subscribed to newsletters!
What do you think ?
Jumping Jellyfishes 3 months ago
A bunch of us girls once went into the men's room at a bar because line line for the women's restroom was ridiculously long and there wasn't a line for the men's. We kept our eyes to ground as we walked to stalls, apologizing, and the men that were in there made comments that they understood. Guess what? Nobody made a big deal out of it.
Mel in Georgia 3 months ago
SA in a public bathroom is rare to a point of being negligible. So who cares who's using the stall? Why are these stupid people getting the vapors over people wanting to take a wee? (Rhetorical question - we all know where rage founded on misinformation comes from.)
Barbara Wilcock 3 months ago
Who cares. You're just going to pee! Growing up did you have separate toilets for siblings? Nope
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 3 months ago (edited)
Do not forge! This stuff is about protecting women and making them feel safe... Ridiculous. It is about harassing innocent, whether cisgender or transgender. It is also normalizing homophobia.
Elizabeth Anderson 3 months ago
And of course the girls and women accosted in this manner are likely to be tall, big, and/or Black. Which of course compounds the trauma.
Urbangirlatl 3 months ago
The irony is making my eyes roll back in my head. Presumably the bathroom "vigilante" felt compelled to keep the bathroom "safe" for women, and in doing so, sexually harassed one.
Ann Tiques 3 months ago
Anyone who challenges me about gender in a restroom is about to get a full-on frontal cooch!e shot. If I’m going to be embarrassed, we are *ALL* going to be embarrassed.
Jeremy James 3 months ago
This was so obviously never about "protecting women's spaces." It was always about giving license for bigots to harass anyone who doesn't conform to their idea of gender.
Nikole 3 months ago
Indeed! As a woman, I’d definitely prefer trans women use the women’s restroom, because they would probably encounter violence in the men’s room and they are women. (I know she isn’t transgender.)
Load More Replies...
Shane S 3 months ago
I’m confused. If they thought she was a cis man and “he” was with a female companion, then why was everyone rude to them before the bathroom incident. Did the staff think it was two gay men? How could they have discriminated against a lesbian couple if they thought one of them was a man?
KatWitch57 3 months ago
I would refuse to do so in the restroom but tell the man I would do so in view of the other customers, at which point I would strip from the waist down. But then I'm 68, angry, and have long since lost any capacity for embarrasment!
LaurieAnnaT 3 months ago
Anyone asking me to prove my s*x is going to have to prove theirs first!
JayWantsACat 3 months ago
The biggest threat to children in public restrooms are people barging in demanding that others prove their gender.
Robin Roper 3 months ago
I would have told this person to p**s off! How dare anyone demand to see a person's genitals or chest to prove their gender. There would be a lawsuit so fast, it would break the sound barrier.
Nils Skirnir 3 months ago
Who da f**k listens to a server? Except to confirm orders and payment and to be polite. Probably just Rightist, evangelical/orthodox ahole Repuke server
Robert Beveridge 3 months ago
It strikes me there would be a LOT of lawyers who would take this on for a percentage of damages, 'cause an SA civil suit against a chain this large could potentially roll into the eight figures. Which would also have a helluva chilling effect on this nonsense at most national chains.
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago
It happened multiples times already, just do your researches.
Load More Replies...
Laura Lawson 3 months ago
First, last and always, there has never been single proven case of someone becoming a transgender woman for the sole purpose of sèxually assaulting women in a public bathroom. Ever. You have bought into this bùllshit idea like too many because you can't/won't seem to understand that some people are different & it's time you got a firm kick up the a**e. Believe me, if a man wanted to a*sàult a women, as they have from the dawn of time, there are many easier ways than changing their entire gender identity. Plus, they would just walk into that ladies bathroom if they really wanted to get someone. And 'men self-identifying as women'? Seriously? The term is transgender. I'm going to give you some grace, hope that you simply do not understand & are happy to be educated. Grow a spine & really look into this issue from a neutral standpoint, open your mind for a change.
Load More Replies...
Jumping Jellyfishes 3 months ago
A bunch of us girls once went into the men's room at a bar because line line for the women's restroom was ridiculously long and there wasn't a line for the men's. We kept our eyes to ground as we walked to stalls, apologizing, and the men that were in there made comments that they understood. Guess what? Nobody made a big deal out of it.
Mel in Georgia 3 months ago
SA in a public bathroom is rare to a point of being negligible. So who cares who's using the stall? Why are these stupid people getting the vapors over people wanting to take a wee? (Rhetorical question - we all know where rage founded on misinformation comes from.)
Barbara Wilcock 3 months ago
Who cares. You're just going to pee! Growing up did you have separate toilets for siblings? Nope
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 3 months ago (edited)
Do not forge! This stuff is about protecting women and making them feel safe... Ridiculous. It is about harassing innocent, whether cisgender or transgender. It is also normalizing homophobia.
Elizabeth Anderson 3 months ago
And of course the girls and women accosted in this manner are likely to be tall, big, and/or Black. Which of course compounds the trauma.
Urbangirlatl 3 months ago
The irony is making my eyes roll back in my head. Presumably the bathroom "vigilante" felt compelled to keep the bathroom "safe" for women, and in doing so, sexually harassed one.
Ann Tiques 3 months ago
Anyone who challenges me about gender in a restroom is about to get a full-on frontal cooch!e shot. If I’m going to be embarrassed, we are *ALL* going to be embarrassed.
Jeremy James 3 months ago
This was so obviously never about "protecting women's spaces." It was always about giving license for bigots to harass anyone who doesn't conform to their idea of gender.
Nikole 3 months ago
Indeed! As a woman, I’d definitely prefer trans women use the women’s restroom, because they would probably encounter violence in the men’s room and they are women. (I know she isn’t transgender.)
Load More Replies... Shane S 3 months ago
I’m confused. If they thought she was a cis man and “he” was with a female companion, then why was everyone rude to them before the bathroom incident. Did the staff think it was two gay men? How could they have discriminated against a lesbian couple if they thought one of them was a man?
KatWitch57 3 months ago
I would refuse to do so in the restroom but tell the man I would do so in view of the other customers, at which point I would strip from the waist down. But then I'm 68, angry, and have long since lost any capacity for embarrasment!
LaurieAnnaT 3 months ago
Anyone asking me to prove my s*x is going to have to prove theirs first!
JayWantsACat 3 months ago
The biggest threat to children in public restrooms are people barging in demanding that others prove their gender.
Robin Roper 3 months ago
I would have told this person to p**s off! How dare anyone demand to see a person's genitals or chest to prove their gender. There would be a lawsuit so fast, it would break the sound barrier.
Nils Skirnir 3 months ago
Who da f**k listens to a server? Except to confirm orders and payment and to be polite. Probably just Rightist, evangelical/orthodox ahole Repuke server
Robert Beveridge 3 months ago
It strikes me there would be a LOT of lawyers who would take this on for a percentage of damages, 'cause an SA civil suit against a chain this large could potentially roll into the eight figures. Which would also have a helluva chilling effect on this nonsense at most national chains.
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago
It happened multiples times already, just do your researches.
Load More Replies... Laura Lawson 3 months ago
First, last and always, there has never been single proven case of someone becoming a transgender woman for the sole purpose of sèxually assaulting women in a public bathroom. Ever. You have bought into this bùllshit idea like too many because you can't/won't seem to understand that some people are different & it's time you got a firm kick up the a**e. Believe me, if a man wanted to a*sàult a women, as they have from the dawn of time, there are many easier ways than changing their entire gender identity. Plus, they would just walk into that ladies bathroom if they really wanted to get someone. And 'men self-identifying as women'? Seriously? The term is transgender. I'm going to give you some grace, hope that you simply do not understand & are happy to be educated. Grow a spine & really look into this issue from a neutral standpoint, open your mind for a change.
Load More Replies... You May Like "I'm Born Female": Bearded Trans Man Forced To Explain Himself After Woman Confronts Him 97 Pride Month Quotes From Fabulous LGBTQ+ Activists And Allies Trans Instructor Ousted From College After Failing Student Who Cited The Bible In A Gender Essay
Karina Babenok
Natallia Pisarenka
Gabija Saveiskyte
Related on Bored Panda
23
53