Image via HotelChatter.

The word cosmopolitan means feeling at ease with many different types of people and cultures, a definition security at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas should have learned before they “banned for life” a transgender woman who used the women’s bathroom. A transwoman named Stephanie sat down at the Vesper Bar at 2:30 A.M. and then went to use the bathroom at around 4 A.M. and upon exciting she was told she could never return to the hotel again. Check out the full story from Hotel Chatter:

She goes…to the women’s restroom, just across from the bar. It’s empty, as you’d expect at 4am on a Monday. Not a single person in there. She powders her nose and exits the restroom, only to be met by two security guards who immediately say “Come with us” and start marching her out of the hotel. As they walk her, they demand to see her ID (to establish her legal gender). It’s in her purse, and she fumbles for it as she’s being forcibly marched through the lobby of the hotel. As she fumbles, one of the men tells her to hurry up. She is scared, and starts apologizing, saying she’s not trying to cause trouble, but it’s hard to walk and look for her ID at the same time.

They march her outside the hotel (the bathroom is near the main entrance) and she finds her ID. One of the guards checks it, establishes that her legal gender is male, and pulls out a yellow form from his pocket and starts writing in her details to the blank spaces. As he does so, he says, “Are you working?” Way to add insult to injury. She doesn’t say “Well as it happens, yes I am working, at the conference, douchebag.” She says
no.

The woman was issued a trespass warning and it was explained to her that if she ever stepped into the hotel again she would be immediately arrested.

Find out what the Cosmopolitan had to say after the jump…Interestingly enough, the Cosmopolitan is a TAG-Approved hotel, which means that the hotel staff should have had appropriate training when it comes to transgender guests, and it is owned by the Deutsche Bank who was given a 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.

The Cosmopolitan issued a statement about the incident without acknowledging any wrongdoing.

We regret that any guest may have had an unfortunate experience at The Cosmopolitan. All guests are welcome to experience the city’s newest luxury resort. Our guests’ safety, comfort and enjoyment always remains our top priority.

The resort contains numerous public restroom facilities that guests can use at their discretion as well as numerous private family restrooms throughout. Additionally, The Cosmopolitan is a TAG approved resort.

When contacted, TAG also issued this statement to us:

The situation was brought to our attention this morning and the first we heard of it. It is our policy to follow up on all complaints with the hotel in question and adequately address and resolve the issue. If TAG determines that the complaint is not adequately addressed, or that the property does not meet TAG’s Best Practices qualifications, the property will be terminated as a TAG member and the company must agree to immediate cease using TAG Approved identification on promotional materials.

I have left a message with my contact at hotel and will continue to follow up. We allow 7 days for a property to respond.
Thank you again for bringing to our attention. Please feel free to follow-up with us on this matter. It usually takes hotels a little while to investigate and respond.

Many people have taken to the hotel’s Facebook page to express their disapproval.