When you head out for a casual dinner in Minnesota, the last thing you expect is to have your gender questioned in a public bathroom. But for 18-year-old Gerika Mudra, a biracial lesbian from Owatonna, about an hour south of Minneapolis, that nightmare became all too real. According to reports, Mudra alleges that in April, a server followed her into the women’s restroom at a Buffalo Wild Wings and demanded she “prove” she was a girl.
“It’s unbelievable,” Mudra said. “I have been in similar situations before where people assumed I was in the wrong restroom, but usually telling them I’m a woman is enough,” she stated, per NBC News.
Mudra told the server, “I am a lady,” after leaving the stall, only to be met with a flat refusal. “You have to get out now.” Feeling backed into a corner, Mudra unzipped her hoodie to show she had breasts. The server, thankfully, left the restroom without comment, but the damage was done. “She made me feel very uncomfortable,” Mudra said. “After that, I just don’t like going in public bathrooms. I just hold it in. … I want to be able to use the bathroom in peace.”
Minnesota Teen Asked To Prove Gender In Public Bathroom
Reddit users following the story were quick to react. Comments like, “Bathroom panic just leads to people selectively enforcing rigid gender norms. Non-conformity can get you assaulted and harassed regardless of how you were born” and “That is INSANE! People like this need to have the cops called on them” summed up the outrage. Others weighed in with humor-laced horror: “Please don’t punish women this way” and “The server needs to be registered as a sex offender.”
Gender Justice filed a formal charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, citing violations of the state’s Human Rights Act, which protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and other protected statuses. Sara Jane Baldwin, a senior staff attorney at Gender Justice, emphasized the legal responsibility businesses have.
“Businesses have a legal obligation not to just have antidiscrimination policies on paper, but to train staff and ensure that those policies are followed in real time. When that doesn’t happen, the business is liable for the harm caused.”
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Megan Peterson, executive director at Gender Justice, added that Mudra’s experience reflects a larger culture of suspicion toward anyone who doesn’t fit rigid expectations of femininity. While Minnesota hasn’t enacted restrictive bathroom laws like some other states, the chilling effect on public restroom access is felt nationwide.
“And yet, in our current climate we have to ask: What if Gerika had been a trans person? Would this story have ended differently? That’s the terrifying reality too many trans people live with every day,” Peterson said.
Mudra’s ordeal serves as a stark reminder that even in Minnesota, navigating public spaces can be fraught for people who don’t conform to stereotypical gender appearances. No one should have to prove their identity just to use a bathroom safely. And while the complaint is now filed, the hope is that sharing stories like Mudra’s will force businesses to take training and accountability seriously, and stop these invasive, unnecessary confrontations once and for all.
Hunter Spears 
Sabrina Russell 
