Farmers Plaza apologizes to discriminated transwoman, disowns cleaning staff involved

Farmers Plaza on Wednesday apologized to transwoman Gretchen Custodio Diez for barring her from using the female comfort room inside the mall.

"We would like to apologize to Ms. Diez for the treatment she has received from a member of the cleaning crew," Morriel Abogado, property general manager of Farmers Plaza said in a statement.

Farmers Plaza is one of the malls within the Araneta Center Complex in Cubao Quezon City.

The management also clarified that the janitress who got involved in the incident was not a direct employee of the mall.

"We hope this isolated incident, clearly a mistake committed by an agency worker not organic to our company, does not define our lasting good relations with all our customers through decades of operations," the statement read.

Abogado added that the management has already contacted the agency of the cleaning crew to take appropriate actions regarding the matter.

On Tuesday, Diez was not allowed to use the establishment's ladies' room. She was reportedly handcuffed by a lady guard after she took a video of the janitress who discriminated her.

The mall, however, denied that the handcuffing took place within the mall.

"We wish to clarify that handcuffing Ms. Diez was not the idea of Farmers Plaza management, nor was it done within our premises. We are unaware of the reason or basis why the police thought this was necessary at all," it added.

Farmers Plaza reiterated that the treatment received by Diez was unacceptable, as it vowed to take steps in preventing similar incidents from happening again.

"We hope to open a dialogue with Ms. Diez with regard to issues involving the LGBTQ+ community so that we may be of better service to everyone," it said. —LDF, GMA News