Nordstrom Rack Glendale Fashion Center Glendale

Hello, I visited your store yesterday (2/19) around noon. I am a trans women in the very early stages of my transition, so if you saw me you’d say I was male. I went to your store in order to pick out some jeans, shopping online for me is extremely for sizing reasons, so trying on clothes in a store is both parts necessary and also extremely anxiety inducing. “I look like a boy, but I am trying on women’s clothes, so which dressing room should I choose?” Most other department stores do not care which one I choose, I was also with my girlfriend so it seemed like it would not be a big issue to use the women’s dressing room. I went into the room, tried on my first pair of pants and opened the door to see what my girlfriend thought, when all of a sudden an employee of you’re store saw me and was extremely rude, hurtful and ignorant.

Loud enough for everyone to hear, she said repeatedly, “excuse me, men aren’t allowed in the women’s dressing room. We can’t have men in here, you need to leave right now and wait outside, men aren’t allowed in here.”

I’m not writing to disagree with your policy, but while I look like a man, I was in the women’s dressing room trying on women’s pants. What I am asking is to inform your staff about trans people and just how difficult it is for them to get the courage to go to a store and try on clothes that they need to feel like themselves. There was a way to handle that situation with humanity and class that was totally absent from our interaction. You’re staff needs to know how to approach a person in those situations and Talk to them like a person and not some kind of vagrant. I should be able to use whatever dressing room I wish, but if I am not able to, a subtle handling needs to take place. If a “man” is trying on “women’s” clothes in a “women’s” dressing room, then chances are they are trans/non-binary. I’d say you should let them choose whatever changing room they want, but if that is not your police then you really need to know how to
Address the situation.

I will not be returning to your store, and I’d like a Response that this situation is going to be handled or else I will be posting on your yelp page, which I still
Might do. I’d like to hear how you plan to handle these situations in a timely manner.

Thank you for your time,

Sophie