An Ohio man may have gone into his local Petco to stock up on dog treats, but he left behind a whole different mess with his epic, profanity-laden rant.
The incident was caught on video last week in a Cleveland-area store and has since gone viral on TikTok.
In the clip, the man—with confused looking dog in tow—berated Petco employees solely because that store has a gender-neutral bathroom.
“This is stupid,” the man yelled, gesturing toward the restroom, and tugging his dog along. “People have had enough with that crap!” he complained. “I don’t care what your policy is!”
Employees asked him to leave, which the man did, but not before continuing his tirade.
“Stop with the gender-neutral shit!” he shouted. “Men and women are different!”
Although Ohio does not have LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections statewide, both Cleveland and Cuyahoga County—where this store is located—have ordinances that protect the LGBTQ+ community in the area of public accommodations, which would cover options like gender-neutral restrooms in pet stores.
This incident comes as more than 20 Ohio Republicans signed onto a bill in May that would restrict bathroom access for transgender people at all Ohio schools and universities.
HB 183 would require that all restrooms and locker rooms be designated for use by individuals who are one “biological sex.” The bill would also restrict schools from granting trans students access to a bathroom that doesn’t correspond with the gender assigned to them at birth, eliminating accommodations for trans students that school staff have arranged across the state.
The bill was referred to the Higher Education committee in June and is expected to get a hearing when the legislature reconvenes from their summer break some time after Labor Day. 🔥
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