Violence erupted between dueling protesters outside an upscale California spa Saturday after viral video showed a woman complaining about a transgender female being allowed to disrobe in the women’s section — allegedly exposing their penis in front of young children, according to reports.
The livid customer posted the clip on Instagram under the username Cubana Angel after the incident last weekend at the Wi Spa in the Koreatown neighborhood in Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles reported.
“So, it’s OK for a man to go into the women’s section, show his penis around the other women, young little girls — underage — in your spa? Wi Spa condones that, is that what you’re saying?” the woman asks a counter employee.
“He is a man. He is not a female. There are girls down there, other women who are highly offended by what they just saw and you did nothing. You sided with him,” the irate woman adds.
When another customer tells her to go somewhere else if she’s offended, the woman responds, “You go somewhere else! You go somewhere else!”
A male customer then tries to defend the trans person, who is not seen in the footage.
“He’s a man, he’s a man,” the woman insists.
Meanwhile, another customer is heard also complaining and asking for her money back.
After the clip went viral, protesters opposed to the spa’s policy demonstrated in front of the building at 2700 Wilshire Blvd. early Saturday — but were quickly met by counter-demonstrators holding a “No Bigotry in L.A.” rally, the LA Times reported.
Marie Dumouch, a demonstrator for trans rights, told CBS LA: “I think we should let people live their lives — and let trans people live their lives how they want to.”
But the protests soon devolved into violence, with footage from the scene showing trans-rights supporters assaulting protesters from the other side, spraying them with an unidentified substance, pushing them, hitting them and demanding that they leave, the CBS outlet reported.
Several of the trans-rights supporters could be heard cursing at the protesters to “get the f—- out!”
A man wearing a T-shirt that said “Obey Jesus” was then sprayed with something from a can, according to the station.
Moments later, several trans rights supporters grabbed a large sign that said “God Does Not Make Mistakes” from two protesters.
Someone then pushed the man in the “Obey Jesus” shirt in the back, prompting him to shove a woman clad in black, the footage shows.
He was then set upon by a group of men, who slugged him and struck him in the head with a skateboard.
The chaos prompted police in riot gear to respond to the scene, where some of the demonstrators also set a dumpster on fire and screamed in the faces of police in tactical gear.
Meanwhile, the spa defended its policy in a statement to Fox LA, saying that California law “prohibits discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people.”
“As a spa located in Los Angeles, Wi Spa complies with California law prohibiting discrimination by a business, including the Civil Code provision set forth above. Like many other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles contains a transgender population, some of whom enjoy visiting a spa,” it said.
“Wi Spa strives to meet the needs and safety of all of its customers, and does not tolerate harassment or lewd conduct by any customer, regardless of their sex, gender, or other characteristic,” the statement added.