Story Of Non-Binary Shopper's Experience With Obnoxious Customer Goes Viral
A story of a non-binary resident in Pennsylvania has gone viral after they confronted a disrespectful customer while both were shopping at a local groccery store.
Thomas Hudson, who chooses not to self-identify as either male nor female, originally uploaded the incident to their Facebook page in late February. Hudson, who is from Oklahoma but now lives in Pittsburgh, discussed their confrontational shopping experience.
“Today while grocery shopping someone was brave enough to ask me … ‘Why are you wearing that you’re confusing folks. Do you want to be a boy or a girl?’ the LGBTQ+ youth engagement coordinator said.
Hudson simply laughed and replied, ‘Neither, I want to be comfortable.’
Later continuing to say, “The source of your confusion is not my concern, nor my responsibility. I wore this today because I wanted to. If you’d like to make a monthly donation to my wardrobe I’d be happy to consider your opinion on my attire.”
Although the customer failed to abide by the request, Hudson continued to be “queer AF and unbothered.”
Nearly catching the attention of 80,000 views thus far and nearly 300 comments, they asked for those in support to kindly give the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation a thumbs up for allowing a safe space and workplace that encourages Hudson to be their most authentic self!
"My purpose of sharing this was to bring light to bias that many LGBTQ+ people face on the daily for nothing more than living our lives," said Hudson.
Unfortunately, Hudson and other members of the LGBTQ+ community have to continue to stand up for themselves without the protection of state or federal law.
According to the Pennsylvania chapter of the ACLU, there is no official statutes that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, there are over 40 of Pennsylvania local governments that currently have ordinances that do not allow this kind of discrimination.
Wrapping up the viral post, Hudson makes one last request to the one and only Beyoncé asking for one of her Adidas x Ivy Park orange boxes.
