Mick Hartley

A weird report from the Oxford Mail:

A non-binary shopper said they felt 'dehumanised' and accused a fashion brand of being 'transphobic' after they were refused entry to a women's changing room.

Non-binary? So why the women's changing room? – why not the men's? Is he confusing his terms and he's really a transwoman, or is he just a self-entitled narcissist and all-round pain-in-the-arse?

Giorgio Firico, 21, tried to go to the ladies changing room at Zara in Oxford when the female assistant told them it was against the rules and refused to give them a number for the clothing.

Giorgio, who studies in the US and is in Oxford visiting a friend, said: “I was wearing men’s clothing but I had two gowns on my shoulder, it was obvious what I wanted to try on.

And he has a beard, ffs. He seems to think the changing rooms are segregated by the type of clothing rather than the sex of the customer, so if a bloke wants to try on a dress he's entitled to use the women's.

“At first I was shocked and I went away. Then I thought for one second, it’s my right. I do not identify myself as a man, I have a right to be there. I went back and explained clearly, I am non-binary, I am not a man.

And, by your own self-definition, you're not a woman either.

"She kept saying it’s against the rules. But I said, I do not think you know my gender identity better than me."

Ha! Perfect. Entitled narcissist it is.

Giorgio walked past the shop assistant and into the ladies dressing room next to their friend Anna where they closed the curtain and tried on the clothes.

Giorgio said: “Afterwards I went out and said you should be ashamed of the way you have dehumanized me especially as the shop does not have a gender neutral changing room.

“Afterwards the manager was nice and said they were sorry.

Why? What for? The shop assistant was doing her job, keeping men out of the women's changing rooms.

Anna's mother Susanna Perutz said: "There were a couple of people standing behind us waiting to take a number for their clothes who witnessed it all which was even more embarrassing for Giorgio.

"I walked in and stood outside Giorgio's curtain to make sure he was OK and so that the dressing assistant wouldn’t bother him."

She said the changing room assistant "rolled her eyes" when they came out.

The more I read, the more I like this shop assistant…