Transgender woman arrested in ladies' toilet 'because she still has a penis'
Transgender woman arrested in ladies' toilet 'because she still has a penis

A transgender woman was handcuffed after a cleaner stopped her from using the ladies’ toilet because ‘she has a penis’.

Gretchen Custodio Diez, 28, was about to enter the restroom in a shopping mall in Manila, the Philippines, when she was told off by Chair Ganal on Tuesday.

Gretchen, who was wearing a jacket and a black dress, filmed the bizarre moment as she argued with the cleaning lady.

Gretchen was handcuffed by police after the cleaner stopped her from using the toilet (Image: ViralPress)

Mobile phone footage captures Gretchen being taken to the basement and held inside a room away from other shoppers.

The cleaner can be heard saying: “You still have a penis. Remember that.”

She was also seen trying to take away Gretchen’s phone, appearing to hit her in the head and claiming to file a lawsuit against Gretchen.

Manila Police arrived hours later at around 11:30pm and took Gretchen away in handcuffs, local media Rappler reports.

She was told by the cleaner that she could not enter the ladies’ toilet because she ‘still has a penis’ (Image: ViralPress)

Gretchen was taken to the QCPD Station 7 in Cubao, then to the anti-cyber crime division because the police were confused about how to handle her case, it is reported.

QCPD chief Brigadier General Joselito Esquive told Rappler in a phone interview: “This is the first time this happened.”

Gretchen was eventually released after Chair decided to drop the charges and apologised to her, admitting that she had ‘made a mistake’.

Gretchen was taken to a basement and held inside a room until the police arrived (Image: ViralPress)

She wrote in a letter: ”I want to apologise to Gretchen. I hope with this apology she will give me a second chance.

“I am only human. It was not my intention to offend her. I am willing to study the rights of the LGBT. That is all. I am sorry.”

Gretchen vowed to pursue legal action.

She said: “For me, it was like I was a shoplifter being dragged inside the mall, with people looking at me as I was being held.

The cleaner later decided to drop the charges and apologised to Gretchen (Image: ViralPress)

”I could not understand how, in a supposedly gender-fair city, there is a person who would treat me like I committed crime.”

Transgender actress Mela Franco Habijan supported Gretchen as she wrote in a Facebook post: “Gretchen is a proud trans woman who expresses herself as a woman and she always goes to the female restroom every single day.

“So she got offended by this act.”

Source: mirror.co.uk