Former professional hockey player Madison Packer said she was removed from a women’s restroom at a nightclub in Florida, after being mistaken for a man by a female bathroom attendant.
Packer, who played eight seasons in the Premier Hockey Federation and is among the league’s all-time leading scorers, described the incident on social media and in a podcast she co-hosts with her wife, Anya Battaglino.
The LGBT+ advocate recounted how the attendant called out to her using “sir” and attempted to stop her from entering.
“I was forcibly removed,” Packer said. “We proceeded to argue about the bathroom until I showed her my driver’s license.”
Female hockey star Madison Packer recounted how she was stopped at a bathroom once for “looking like a man”
Packer went on to reveal that this was not an isolated incident, and that she had been mistaken for a man before. She said that a similar incident occurred to her at a bar in Connecticut, but that the discussion escalated into a physical altercation.
According to her, the Florida incident occurred in late April. It came shortly before a separate, unrelated case in Boston, where a woman was reportedly removed from a hotel bathroom after being told to prove she was female.
She described the experience as “humiliating” and connected it to broader issues around gender expression and bathroom access.
“The fear-mongering and outright propaganda we have perpetuated against the trans community in this country is pathetic.”
The incident was discussed on their podcast in commemoration of Lesbian Visibility Day. The couple posted a restroom selfie on Instagram from a previous trip, captioned: “Minding mine. I wish the government would do the same.”
Florida law restricts bathroom access for transgender people in government buildings, but not in private businesses. Other states with similar laws include Arkansas, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Packer said scrutiny of trans people also affects gender-nonconforming women
For Packer, who describes herself as “masculine presenting,” the confrontations reveal a larger pattern of increased scrutiny and paranoia surrounding transgender individuals. She said that the issue has grown to the point of also interfering with the lives of women who do not conform to gender expectations.
“I find it infuriating that we’re now going as far as to dictate or try to regulate what ‘female’ looks like,” she said.
“I’ve shared locker rooms and bathrooms with straight men, gay men, gay women, straight women, trans men, and trans women,” she added. “I’ve never once had an altercation or inappropriate exchange with a trans person.”
Regarding the Boston case, Nina Selvaggion, executive director of PFLAG Greater Boston, an organization created by parents of LGBT+ people, said that “for gender nonconforming lesbians, being harassed in public restrooms is a tale as old as time.”
Packer battled severe mental health issues in the past, and now talks about the struggles of the LGBT+ community on her podcast
Long before bathroom altercations, Packer faced a different kind of crisis—one that nearly ended her life. In December 2014, just days before graduating from the University of Wisconsin, the former hockey star was battling a deep depression after her college career ended.
“I had spent 4½ life-altering years in Madison playing hockey,” she said. “Then suddenly, I didn’t know who I was without it.”
Packer described a complicated moment on the balcony of her 15th-floor apartment in which she considered jumping. The feeling remained with her, and eventually led her to crash her car into a concrete pillar—something she later recognized as an attempt at ending her life.
“I just wanted to stop feeling the way I was feeling,” she said. “But I didn’t know how to ask for help.”
The ordeal made her keenly aware of the importance of talking about the specific struggles of the LGBT+ community and how they affect their mental health, which makes her transition into podcasting a natural outcome.
“We have to change that. We have to make it okay to talk about struggling.”
“Inappropriate.” Netizens took to social media to share their thoughts on the incident
