DeKalb County police have launched an internal investigation after a transgender woman says an officer confronted her for using the women’s restroom at a public library in Tucker.
The incident happened Oct. 20 at the Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library, where early voting was underway.
Sasha Swinson, a regular visitor to the library, says she had just finished using the restroom when a police officer on duty stopped her.
“I use the restroom, the women’s restroom, like I have been for months, if not years,” Swinson said. “He says, ‘Excuse me, sir.’ So, misgendering me right away, just goes, ‘But you’re not a woman. That’s obvious.'”
Swinson says she tried to explain that she is a transgender woman, but the officer became angry. “This is a police matter. There are women and little girls in there and I have to protect them,” she recalled him saying.
She says the confrontation caused a scene inside the library, and she tried to calm things down. “Finally, I just nodded, you know, and he walked off. And I was very thankful,” she said.
The next day, Swinson emailed library officials, who she says contacted the DeKalb County Police Department. “The library filed the complaint on my behalf,” she said.
