Trump-Supporting Republican Confronts Trans Woman at LA Denny’s Restaurant

Last week, Republican congressional candidate Jazmina Saavedra approached and confronted a trans woman who was trying to use the women’s restroom at an LA-based Denny’s restaurant. Saavedra posted the video to Facebook before removing it, reports The Daily Beast. However, Fox 11 captured some footage of the incident here.

According to The Daily Beast, Saavedra began posting a live video when she realized a trans woman was using a bathroom stall in the women’s restaurant at Denny’s. The two seem to spar verbally, with Saavedra telling the woman in the stall, “you’re invading my privacy.” The trans woman responds with, “I’m in the toilet. How am I invading your privacy?” After she left the restroom, she continued “Excuse me, I was using the toilet… Why are you singling me out lady? And I see [sic] you yesterday following me.”

Denny’s issued a statement in response to Saavedra’s video in an article on Splinter:

We are extremely disturbed by the incident that took place at our Los Angeles restaurant this week. At Denny’s, we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind, inclusive of gender identity and sexual orientation.

We are dedicated to providing a welcoming dining environment for all our guests and believe that our transgender guests and team members should be allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. Our restaurant teams attend training which covers our policies against discrimination and promotes respect for all guests.

In this particular case, the video of this incident does not tell the full story. Our manager was approached by a guest complaining that a man was in the women’s restroom. Once a female team member checked that no one else was in there, the manager entered. Before seeing the guest, the manager observed drug paraphernalia on the floor near the guest and asked the guest to leave based on that observation, and not on her gender identity.

There is no place for discrimination of any kind in our restaurants. We do apologize to our transgender guest and others in the restaurant that had to endure another customer’s disrespectful behavior.

Saavedra is a Trump-supporting Republican running in California’s 44th Congressional District, one that mainly covers South LA and Harbor cities like South Gate, Lynwood, Compton, Carson, and San Pedro. According to her website VoteforJaz.com, she’s running a conservative platform focusing on traditional family values and “issues of employment, reducing crime, empowering the families, and providing our veterans with the respect they deserve.”

• Congressional Candidate Accosts Trans Woman Using Bathroom [The Daily Beast]
• Republican Candidate Gleefully Films Herself Harassing a Trans Woman in a Bathroom [Splinter]
• Woman sees transgender person in ladies room [Fox 11]