Francis Vinings is a transgender woman who has always been very confident and positive about her transition. Once named Frank, he always felt that her true identity and true self was as a female.
Frank Vinings made his transition into Francis Vinings on February 19, 2012. Although this date was significant to others, the date meant next to nothing for Francis, who truly believed she was female.
A couple weeks after this momentous day, something even more impactful happened to Francis: she surgically changed her sex.
On October 15th, 2016 at 1:30 p.m., Francis was arrested for entering the women’s bathroom at a Chick-fil-a in Columbus, Georgia.
The transgender walked into the women’s bathroom just as she does every day. However, on this specific occasion, a group of concerned bystanders contacted the police saying that, “there is a man dressed in a dress who is confused about his gender, and he is terrorizing the women’s bathroom.”
The police came swiftly and forcibly removed Francis from the establishment, then arrested her. Francis was then taken to the nearest police station, and charged for trespassing. She was let out with a $200 bond. Francis was mortified, and felt as though she was discriminated against and wrongfully accused to the highest degree.
She contacted a lawyer and they began to work on her case against the Columbus police department. The Supreme Court of Georgia did not rule in Francis’ favor, so she appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.