A disturbing incident of homophobic harassment in a public bathroom, captured on video by the victim, has gone viral and ignited a conversation about the safety of LGBTQ+ individuals in the UK.
NYE Confrontation Goes Viral
On New Year's Eve, influencer Zachary Willmore shared a video to TikTok documenting a hostile confrontation he faced while trying to use a men's bathroom. Willmore, who openly documents his life as a feminine-presenting gay man living with HIV, was wearing glitter and makeup at the time.
The video, which has been viewed more than 13 million times on TikTok alone, shows Willmore being aggressively confronted by an apparently intoxicated man. The assailant can be heard making derogatory comments about Willmore's appearance.
"I don't like a dude... with pearls on his eyes," the man says in the clip. He continues, "Yeah, I don't like that s**t in a men's bathroom, showing your chest like a girl... dressed like a girl."
"Where Am I Supposed to Go?"
In the footage, Willmore explains to his followers that he initially opted to use a toilet stall to avoid conflict. The man, however, continued his tirade, calling Willmore a "f***ing b***h" and accusing him of wanting to "be a girl so bad."
When the aggressor asked why Willmore didn't use the women's facilities, Willmore firmly replied, "because I'm a f***ing boy." The man then questioned why he was "dressed like this," prompting Willmore to walk away. Even as he left, the man shouted abusive questions, asking if he had ovaries.
Reflecting on the impossible situation faced by many gender-nonconforming people, Willmore said to the camera, "They don't want transgender women... to use the women's bathroom, they don't want a gay man to use the men's bathroom, so I've got to piss on the floor." He clarified in the video that he is not a transgender woman.
Apology and Aftermath
Following the video's spread, the man involved was identified by TikTok accountability influencer Danesh Noshirvan as Jaxon Terill. In messages shared by Noshirvan, Terill admitted his actions were "wrong and not OK" and cited heavy drinking as a factor, while stressing he was not using it as justification.
Terill claimed to have sent multiple apologies to Willmore after the event, though he disputed the claim that he shook the toilet stall. Willmore had stated in a follow-up Instagram Story that the man shook his stall door until he came out, which prompted him to start recording.
In his Instagram post, Willmore recounted telling his harasser, "I told him there are 8 billion people on this Earth, how can you expect everyone to think and act exactly like you? I also just wanted to pee."
In a subsequent TikTok, Willmore showed himself enjoying the night before the altercation, writing that such homophobia "happens so much" but he is sometimes still shocked by it. "It doesn't make sense to me, I'm just living my life," he wrote. "If more people got to know me, I think they'd like me."
