Transgender woman jailed for eight days files lawsuit against Iowa hotel

Meagan Taylor said the incident was 'humiliating, scary and traumatising'

Meagan Taylor said the incident was 'humiliating, scary and traumatising' (ACLU)

A transgender woman who spent eight days in jail after she was suspected of being a prostitute, has filed a complaint against an Iowa hotel alleging she was harassed because of her gender identity.

Meagan Taylor was staying at the Drury Inn on July 13 with a friend while on a trip from Illinois to a funeral in Kansas City. Staff called police at some point after the two checked in to report suspected prostitution activity because the two were "men dressed like women."

Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, who are representing Ms Taylor, claim the hotel employees profiled her based on her race and gender identity, violating Iowa's civil rights law.

“For Meagan, a stop at a hotel on the way to a funeral landed her in solitary confinement because she is black and transgender,” said Chase Strangio, an attorney in the ACLU's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project.

“This type of profiling of transgender women of colour is all too common....Such blatant discrimination and violation of Iowa law that caused staff to call law enforcement to remove and arrest paying customers cannot be tolerated.”

Ms Taylor's complaint was filed Tuesday with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, the state agency that screens and investigates complaints of discrimination, according to the Des Moines Register.

The number of gender identity complaints made to the commission has grown in recent years, even though such cases remain a small portion of the agency's overall workload. In 2009-10, the commission took 13 complaints involving gender identity; the number jumped to 44 by 2013-14, according to a 2014 annual report.

In her complaint, Ms Taylor, a student, said that the hotel’s clerk and manager both appeared suspicious of her and her travelling partner. Both workers gave them "looks of disgust”, she said.

“This ordeal was humiliating, scary and traumatising,” she wrote in the complaint.

“I felt powerless and degraded. I realised I was not welcome in a public place simply because of who I am. Through no fault of my own, I was targeted, harassed, arrested, and forced to miss a funeral simply because I chose to stay at a hotel where I was unwelcome."

The Drury Inn has not responded to requests for comment.