Police have started a hate crime investigation after a security guard prevented a transsexual man from using the female toilets in an Edinburgh shopping centre.
River Song, 18, claims a security guard at the St James Centre said, “You are a male and always will be” after being asked to show ID.
River Song, who has not had a sex change yet, complained to the Police about the comments.
Stopped
He said the guard stopped him outside the female toilets and asked why he was using them.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Police in Edinburgh attended a shopping centre in the city centre on Monday following reports of offensive comments made by a security guard towards an individual within the complex.”
They confirmed that enquires about the incident were ongoing.
Allowed
In America, a transexual man was allowed to use a female changing room at a college which was also used by children.
The 45-year-old had been living as a woman since 2009, and said he believed children need to be ‘educated’ over the issue.
But because of anti-discrimination laws, a Police report showed that charges were unlikely to be brought.
Access
In the US state of California, a controversial Bill allowing transexual students to access bathrooms and changing rooms of the gender they have chosen, was signed into law earlier this month.
Politicians have argued that the new law could be exploited.