The ejection of a 7-year old girl from the Silver Spring Fountain Plaza for wearing what a security guard believed to be inappropriate swimwear for girls has sparked questions about acceptable clothing and brought an apology from property managers.
Roz Dzelzitis, of Silver Spring, posted on Facebook an account that said her daughter wore swim shorts and a “short sleeve rash guard” instead of a women’s “underwear style” or one-piece swimsuit. She said a guard then ordered her daughter to leave.
“[The guard] showed me (Roz) the rule book he carries with photos of acceptable swim wear. I explained that her rash guard and swim shorts ARE swimwear, even shorter than the boys. He said, ‘but those are boys,’ and told me ‘she’s a girl.’ When my daughter protested and pointed out the boys, he repeated that ‘those are boys’ and turned to my daughter and said ‘you’re a girl.’ After a longer exchange, I went to the security office to complain and left a voice message for the property manager,” she wrote on Facebook June 21, a day after the encounter.
Dzelzitis told a Washington Post columnist that her daughter made a drawing recapping the incident.
“To Property Manager of DTS Founten. it’s not fair that boys get to wear swim shorts in the founten and girls need to wear swim underwear or a one pies swim souts,” Dzelzitis’s daughter wrote in the drawing. (“DTS Founten” refers to Downtown Silver Spring Fountain).
Dzelzitis told the newspaper that she was shocked a security guard would discriminate against her daughter based on gender.
“Just the fact that someone specifically told her that ‘Yes, that boy can do this but you’re a girl, you can’t,’ ” Dzelzitis said. “It’s unbelievable that would occur in 2019 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Those memories of being told what you can and can’t do because of your gender never leave you,” she told The Post.
Montgomery County Council member Evan Glass said he was informed later about the incident and contacted the Fairfax, Virginia-based Peterson Companies — a real estate company that manages the fountain property. Glass said he was assured there would not be another incident in which a child was asked to leave due to perceived inappropriate swimwear for someone’s gender.
“The incident is one of an employee misapplying gender identity to children, and the employees have been educated and management is taking corrective action,” Glass said.
Glass called the incident a “teachable moment to ensure all residents, and even elementary school youth, are treated with respect.”
In an email, Vicki Bendure, a spokeswoman for Peterson Companies, called the incident “an unfortunate misunderstanding” by the security guard.
“Once a supervisor was called and found that the clothing was appropriate swim attire, the supervisor apologized and told the parents the girl was allowed back in the fountain. We’ve taken this opportunity to retrain our Security team. There is no gender specific swim wear requirement,” she wrote.
Bendure added that “street clothes” are not allowed in the fountain and that it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
