19-year-old trans woman Savanna Galloway was ‘left in tears’ after being refused service at The Counting House (Wetherspoons) in Glasgow. Staff refused to serve Galloway, arguing her ID photo was not her. She reportedly explained she was transgender and offered to show staff her short hair under her wig but was still denied service. Savanna told Glasgow Live the incident left her feeling ‘horrible’. She added ‘I think my ID still visibly looks like me’.
A Wetherspoons spokesperson told BBC Scotland the company ‘wholeheartedly apologises’. They stated it was a legal requirement for customers who look under 25 to produce an ID that and argued the bar manager made the correct decision to not serve her if her ID ‘did not bear resemblance’. However they continued ‘The incident has shown that providing ID for transgender customers may present difficulties’ and said Wetherspoons intends to review their policy on IDing trans people.
Savanna said the incident made her wonder if other trans people had experienced similar issues and believes ‘training for staff is needed to deal with this in a sensitive manner’.
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