After a lengthy drive to the bar, Strobel said he stepped inside to use the men’s room. However, there were no stalls—only urinals, rendering it inaccessible to him as a trans man.
At first, an employee warned both Strobel and his friend against entering the bathroom of the “opposite” sex, but after a brief back-and-forth, Strobel said he believed he had permission to do so. He also said he and Frady were the only two people in the restroom, which Frady confirmed to Erin in the Morning.
That’s when a man who said he was the bar owner burst into the women’s room, peering over the stall to look at Strobel as he used the restroom.
He said the owner and employee ejected him and his friend from the bar—grabbing and pushing them out as they reportedly called Strobel anti-trans slurs. The police were waiting at the door, Strobel said.
The officer cuffed him “so tight that I can’t even feel my fingers,” Strobel said. “I still have a bruise on my knuckle.” Meanwhile, his arresting officer allegedly kept calling him a “little girl.”
In a follow-up video, Strobel said he was released on $500 bond, hit with a trespass notice barring him from entering Sand Dollar Social Club, and issued a ticket for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. Frady said she received the same.
In an interview with Erin in the Morning, Strobel emphasized that he had not consumed a single drink—he was there for the sole purpose of being the designated driver. He says officers did not breathalyze him.
There is no state law in South Carolina preventing a trans man (or any man) from using the women’s room in public accommodations, such as a bar.
So, let’s see if I understand this:
the bar owner warns the trans man to not use the bathroom of the “opposite sex”
the trans man goes into the men’s restroom but there were no stalls, so he went into the women’s restroom believing he had after being given explicit permission to do so
some dude (maybe the owner?) barges into the women’s restroom and starts peering over each stall and finds the trans man and looks at him naked and then panics and starts calling the trans man a man and calls the cops while physically ejecting the trans man
the trans man is called anti-trans slurs and the police refer to him as a “little girl”
he is given a charge of public intoxication despite never having a drink
It sounds like they thought the trans man was a trans woman, tbh. The stupidity and cluelessness is astounding.
They definitely need to take that to court. Cops have no evidence of drinking to back up that charge if they weren’t drinking. Get the charges dropped then sue for false arrest. Profit, then live well.
assuming you can afford a good lawyer, survive with those legal costs in the meantime, and get lucky with a reasonable judge - a lot of ifs, a lot of cracks people fall through
public intoxication laws still apply when in a bar, generally being in a bar counts as “public”, but honestly a lawyer would have to look at the jurisdiction and the specific laws that apply (and whether the bar counts as public or not) - but either way, it’s irrelevant if he was sober …
So, let’s see if I understand this:
believing he hadafter being given explicit permission to do soIt sounds like they thought the trans man was a trans woman, tbh. The stupidity and cluelessness is astounding.
They definitely need to take that to court. Cops have no evidence of drinking to back up that charge if they weren’t drinking. Get the charges dropped then sue for false arrest. Profit, then live well.
assuming you can afford a good lawyer, survive with those legal costs in the meantime, and get lucky with a reasonable judge - a lot of ifs, a lot of cracks people fall through
and not being in public.
public intoxication laws still apply when in a bar, generally being in a bar counts as “public”, but honestly a lawyer would have to look at the jurisdiction and the specific laws that apply (and whether the bar counts as public or not) - but either way, it’s irrelevant if he was sober …