Shocking Footage Shows Police Forcing Lesbian to Leave Women's Bathroom

Britain was recently forced to issue a travel warning to LGBT people thanks to laws passed in North Carolina and Mississippi.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Footage has surfaced alleging to show police officers forcing an unidentified woman to leave a women's restroom facility, once again proving the dire impact of the recent swath of anti-LGBT laws across the country. The woman, reportedly a lesbian, is called "sir" by the officers as she's unfairly tasked with attempting to convince them she's a woman. The footage, uploaded to Facebook by Tamara McDaniel, has quickly garnered millions of views since first being shared last week.

The officers are heard demanding ID from the woman, who reveals she doesn't have one on her. A male officer is then seen screaming in the woman's face as friends plead for the officers to properly deescalate the situation. These pleas, however, are instead met with hostility and repeated requests for an ID. Of course, this loudly begs the question: Why the hell should anyone have to show an ID just to use the restroom? The exact location of the footage, which made it to the Daily Star after surfacing on Facebook, is unknown.

These baffling anti-LGBT laws, like the one Stephen Colbert eviscerated on Tuesday's Late Show, have even inspired the public condemnation of our international allies. The British Foreign Office, as reported by the Huffington Post last week, issued a warning to LGBT travelers regarding the recent passage of troubling laws in North Carolina, Mississippi, and elsewhere.

"The U.S. is an extremely diverse society and attitudes toward LGBT people differ hugely across the country," officials said in a fresh update to the country's American travel advisory. "LGBT travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi." Britain's warning, as evidenced by upsetting footage like this, is a sad reminder of bigotry's continued presence in American politics.

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