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Using the restroom at an airport is already harrowing enough.
There's never enough soap or paper towels, and with flights to catch, every bit of bathroom business is conducted on a tight clock. It's also conducted on some of the planet's most worldly porcelain, with every toilet welcoming thousands of strange butts from across the country and the world every single day. Not to mention the public safety threats who walk into airport bathrooms in open-toed shoes.
But imagine you enter the airport bathroom ready to face the international germ gantlet only to encounter one of Arizona's most hostile organisms: Kari Lake.
Such a run-in occurred Thursday night at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, at least if Lake's social media account is to be believed. Near 11 p.m. that night, Lake tagged the airport in a tweet to complain that she "just had to share the Women’s Restroom with a man."
"So Disturbing," Lake added, Trumpian-capitalization and all. "When will this insanity end?"
At @PHXSkyHarbor International Airport— just had to share the Women’s Restroom with a man.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) August 1, 2025
So Disturbing.
When will this insanity end?
Lake was presumably referring, in her caustically transphobic way, to encountering a transgender woman in the bathroom. Phoenix New Times reached out to Lake for clarification via the federal agency she oversees, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, but has not heard back.
Sky Harbor spokesperson Jon Brodsky told New Times via email that the airport is "aware of the tweet" and that "Phoenix Sky Harbor follows all nondiscrimination laws, including gender identity protections, and is proud to provide a respectful, inclusive, and accessible environment for all travelers."
Assuming her tweet actually means what it clearly implies, Lake is adding to what's been quite a bigoted run recently. Last month, Lake used a congressional hearing to float a homophobic rumor about Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton. With her tweet Thursday night, Lake returned to a frequently plumbed well — by her and many others in the MAGA movement — of scaremongering about trans people in public restrooms.
To be clear, there is little evidence to suggest that trans people using the restrooms that match their identities is a public safety risk. A 2018 study found that "reports of privacy and safety violations in public restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms" involving trans people "are exceedingly rare."
On the other hand, a 2019 study of students found that trans students who are forced to use bathrooms that do not align with their identities — i.e., a trans man forced to use the women's restroom and a trans woman forced to use the men's — "are at greater risk of sexual assault." When people like Lake accost or draw attention to trans people for using restrooms that align with their identities, it leaves trans people feeling unsafe using the restroom anywhere.
Unlike many states, Arizona does not have a law that restricts the restrooms that trans people may use, though Republican lawmakers have repeatedly tried to pass one. Arizona does have a law restricting trans girls from participating in girls' sports, though the law currently is barred from being enforced during a legal challenge. Like instances of trans assaults on cisgender people in restrooms, instances of trans girls playing girls' sports — much less dominating them — are incredibly rare.
Lake does not claim the trans woman she encountered did anything to threaten her safety or privacy — other than simply existing, that is. Lake might remember that the next time she finds herself in a similar situation and just leave people alone.
And if you're a trans woman who encounters Lake in a restroom, please tune your eyes to the level of soft focus she prefers for all public appearances. After all, Kari Lake is entitled to her privacy, too.
