Discrimination: Trans woman kicked out of bathroom at shopping mall in Paraguay
The young woman, a regular customer of the store, reported the incident on her social media. The shopping center denied that it was a case of discrimination.
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ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay. Transgender influencer Shirley Boom shared a video on Instagram denouncing that employees at the Pinedo shopping center, located in the city of San Lorenzo , discriminated against her and a friend for entering the women's restroom. Security guards denied them access to the facilities because of their gender identity.
On Thursday, April 6th, Shirley Boom went shopping with her friend for the day. At five in the afternoon, they went to get a snack and buy movie tickets. Once the movie was over, around eleven at night, they went to the restroom located next to a McDonald's. Shirley entered one of the stalls, but soon heard noises. She asked her friend what was happening, and her friend replied that they were being kicked out.
Shirley immediately left the bathroom, and a cleaning staff member told her, “You can’t be here. You have to go to the bathroom that’s assigned to you .” Amidst the argument, the cleaning staff member alerted the security guard outside the bathroom, and another guard was called to remove them from the restroom.
“I took out my cell phone and started recording them. ‘Who sent you?’ I asked. Up until that moment, I thought it was a joke; I couldn’t believe it. A guard came and told me, ‘You can’t be here because of what you have down there.’ You know when you’re used to having a good time? I didn’t feel like a person at that moment; I felt like a dog because of how they kicked me out,” Shirley told Agencia Presentes .
According to the influencer, the shopping mall staff knows her because she passes by every day on her way to the gym. The day after the incident, Shirley uploaded the video to Instagram, and it went viral within minutes. In a public statement, she said that both she and her friend were treated disrespectfully throughout the entire ordeal.
Discrimination and anti-rights reactions
Presentes contacted Cecilia Figueredo, Marketing Manager of Shopping Pinedo, who maintained that “it was not discrimination.” “She entered the mall, went to the movie theater, and to the food court. No one denied her entry . The only thing she was asked was to use the men's restroom because several customers with children complained to security. So she was invited to use the men's restroom,” she stated.
According to Figueredo, “girls go into the women’s restroom,” and that they received complaints from “customers” at eleven o’clock at night that day. “Later on, we would have to evaluate whether to build an additional restroom, but that’s not up to us. The shopping center is private property for customers. The cleaning lady and the security guard asked her to leave. She wasn’t touched or pushed, but she was asked to use the men’s restroom. And it was during Holy Week. I understand she’s an influencer; I don’t know if she did this to gain more followers,” he said.
Pastor Emilio Agüero Esgaib shared his opinion on social media regarding the incident. “Have you seen the social media accounts of the two people involved? They're grotesque. I will never allow my wife and daughter to share a bathroom with men, no matter what they imagine. And don't come at me with that nonsense about 'homophobia' or 'backwardness.' It's all fallacies. At most, they should have a space of their own where no one feels invaded,” he stated.
The post garnered 7,300 reactions on Facebook and nearly 1,000 comments from anti-rights activists who supported the pastor's statements. “The shopping center made a choice, and I congratulate them. They chose family, they chose common sense, they chose to care for their customers, they chose dignity. I hope they continue this way. P.S.: We must speak out and support them, otherwise this will continue to escalate until there is nowhere left where women can safely go,” he added from the same profile where he offers prayers and messages of “peace and solidarity.”
The inevitable hate speech
Agüero was complicit in the implementation of "gender ideology" during the tenure of former Education Minister Enrique Riera. He is also known for his homophobic and transphobic remarks and his close ties to former President Horacio Cartes and the anti-rights pastor Miguel Ortigoza, who is also aligned with Cartes. Similarly, panelists on the program "Duro de Callar" (Hard to Be Silent) on the Cartes-affiliated channel Gen made transphobic and discriminatory comments.
“Now I’m afraid to go out,” Shirley Boom said. “I feel like everyone hates me. The situation has only gotten worse. People have no empathy and don’t put themselves in someone else’s shoes. It affected me deeply emotionally. My anxiety skyrocketed. I’m a very anxious person, and of course it’s affecting me,” she said, demanding an apology from the mall.
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