SEATTLE — A transgender man filed a complaint with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights against the
Seattle Public Library for refusing to let him to use the family restroom in its downtown building.
The family restroom is the only private restroom in the building, as of early June. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray passed an ordinance in 2015 that requires city-controlled and public establishments to accommodate single-stall restrooms as all-gender facilities.
Ryan "Comet" Alley filed the complaint Monday over the refusal involving a bathroom reserved for families, according to The Seattle Times.
Alley took to Facebook to share his experience about the exchange, writing he frequently uses the family bathroom with staff approval. But on June 5, he said, he was denied access and a supervisor called a security officer.
Alley filmed part of his encounter Wednesday with a library security officer, who asked him to stop recording or leave the building. The video of the exchange has more than 30,000 views on Facebook.
A question is whether the conversation in the public space is considered a private conversation. According to Washington state law, in private conversations all parties must consent to the recording – even in person. The law also specifies phone and radio conversations. Follow this link to read the section of Washington state law.
In May, the Seattle City Council passed a law that says the public can observe, record and criticize police activity without the fear of retaliation. Follow this link to read the Seattle Police Department policy. The guard at the library, however, was not a Police Department employee.
KIRO 7 News is reaching out to the Public Law Library of King County to clarify if the ordinance applies to security officers not employed by the Seattle Police Department, and whether the guard could tell someone to leave based on recording a conversation in a public facility.
Statement from Seattle Public Library
Library spokeswoman Andra Addison says the restrooms are gender-neutral, but the restroom in question was off-limits because he didn't have a child with him.
Addison says the library will open staff restrooms for people until a new option for transgender patrons opens next year.
[ Here is the library’s full statement: ]
An adult patron recently requested use of the Family Restroom located inside the children's area of the Central Library, which by Library Policy is for use by children with their caregivers.
The patron was not with a child and was offered private use of another public restroom on the same floor, but the patron declined.
The Library has been in contact with the patron and we are working to ensure accommodations are available when he visits the Library in the future.
The patron has contacted the Office of Civil Rights, which is looking into the matter.
In March 2017, the Library began the process of design and installation of a new gender neutral restroom for Level 3. Construction of the restroom is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Until that restroom is available for use, the Library will provide an option for transgender patrons requesting private use of a restroom.
The Library continues to be committed to providing a safe, welcoming space and experience for all patrons - children, teens and adults.
To clarify, this patron was not excluded from the Library for requesting use of the Family Restroom. Instead, the exclusion was based only on a failure to follow a staff member request.
Based on an administrative review of these circumstances that 3-day exclusion was immediately revoked and the patron has been welcome to use the Library.