August 13, 2025
Gerika Mudra says she was approached in the restroom at a Buffalo Wild Wings and harassed until she proved she was a female.
Gerika Mudra is taking action after she says she was forced to prove her gender in a public restroom at a Buffalo Wild Wings to an employee.
While using the restroom at the Owatonna, Minnesota, restaurant in April, Mudra, 18, said she was followed inside. A server banged on the stall door and accused her of using the wrong restroom. According to Mudra’s personal testimony, she was asked to prove that she was a female.
Mudra said she then unzipped her jacket and displayed her breasts. The server, she said, “just walked out, didn’t even apologize or anything.”
The high school student does not identify as transgender and believes the actions taken by the server are a form of discrimination. The Minneapolis organization, Gender Justice filed a suit with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The organization posted statements on the incident, as well as testimony from Mudra.
“Gerika’s story sits at the intersection of anti-LBGTQ+ panic, racism, and rigid gender norms and stereotypes,” Megan Peterson, executive director of Gender Justice, said in a statement. “A growing culture of suspicion and control is targeting trans, gender-nonconforming, and Black girls and women–anyone who doesn’t match narrow ideas of how women should look or behave.”
“What happened to Gerika Mudra was not just wrong; it was unlawful,” Gender Justice attorney Jane Baldwin added. “Minnesota law protects people from exactly this kind of discrimination in public spaces. No one should be harassed, humiliated, or forced to prove themselves just to use the bathroom.”
Mudra’s case isn’t just about one humiliating moment inside a restaurant bathroom. Nationwide, bathrooms have become a space of contention for anyone who doesn’t fit narrow gender expectations.
Unfortunately for Mudra, this is not the first time she has been harassed when attempting to use the restroom. But, she said, this incident is the most egregious. She now avoids public facilities.
RELATED CONTENT: UK Doctors Vote To Approve Identity-Based Care For LGBTQIA+ Patients
