I was challenged by a bouncer about using the disabled toilet on a night out – so I confronted him by showing him my stoma bag
A woman who was denied access to the disabled toilet on a night out has revealed how she was forced to show her ostomy bag to go to the toilet.
Lauren Parkes, 25, from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, has suffered from Crohn’s disease since she was 19 and was fitted with an ostomy pouch in 2016.
She was on a night out with friends when a bouncer refused her access to the disabled toilets.
Lauren said, “I’d been to the disabled bathroom a few times that night and it was nice and easy because no one was at the door.
“But later when I went with a friend, there was a security man at the door.”
Lauren Parkes, 25, from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, shows off her stoma bag. She has been wearing it since 2016 after she got an intestinal infection
Lauren said there were five people waiting to go to the bathroom and he turned people away.
She added: “He started asking me why I have to use it, so I told him I was disabled and I had to use it. He then asked me what my problem was and what was going on.
“Then I pulled out my ostomy bag and said, ‘This is what’s wrong with me’ and he was a little surprised because I don’t think he expected me to.
“He wouldn’t let my friend in then, but my friend has colitis—another intestinal condition—and I said she could come in.”
She added, “I’ve never had a problem, or been asked what’s wrong with me.
“Showing the bouncer my ostomy bag to go to the bathroom is something I never thought I would have to do.”
Lauren has had to adjust her life after contracting Crohn’s disease, a disease that causes intestinal inflammation.
She said it was “pretty scary” when she was first diagnosed, but she’s since “learned to love her body.”
And she’s angry that the bouncer made it a problem to go to the disabled bathroom.
She said: ‘I know I look normal from an outsider’s point of view, but I still shouldn’t be questioned about it since not all disabilities are visible.
“Now when you go into supermarkets, there are signs that not all disabilities are visible, which is good.
“It’s just really disappointing how security handled it, I felt like they were guarding the toilets and saying I didn’t look handicapped enough.”
Lauren said it was ‘pretty scary’ when she was first diagnosed but she has since ‘learned to love her body’
Lauren had to show a bouncer her ostomy bag to use the disabled toilets on a night out
The 26-year-old lives with a stoma bag and was not allowed to use a disabled toilet because she did not look disabled
She said when she showed him the bag, it actually felt pretty powerful.
She said, ‘Someone had to confront him and this was my way of confronting his misdeeds.
“Fortunately, I’m very confident, so I’m glad I’m getting it out, but someone else with an invisible disability probably wouldn’t confront them.”
She adds that the incident qualifies as discrimination under the 2010 Equality Act.
She added: “I was denied access to a disabled toilet because I didn’t look handicapped enough and had to prove my disability after questioning.”