Watch: 'Creepy' conservative influencer mocked for filming in all-gender restroom at Kansas City airport

Morgonn McMichael, a right-wing social media influencer, sparked a firestorm of mockery and criticism after she posted a video expressing her disdain for a gender-neutral bathroom at Kansas City International Airport in Missouri to X (formerly Twitter).

“I’m here in Kansas City, and I came across this all-gender bathroom, literally all-gender,” McMichael says in the clip that has been viewed nearly 12 million times as of publication time.

She then walks through the handwashing area and films floor-to-ceiling doors, each with a private stall, as people walk past her to use the restroom.

“Look at this: 20 stalls, all-gender,” she says. “This is so, this is crazy. Forgive me for filming in a bathroom, but this is all-gender. I hate this. I absolutely hate [it]—I have never seen an all-gender bathroom. I’m not going in here. I don’t like this.”

Her video and faux outrage were mocked heavily online. Not only does she show that the bathrooms are entirely private, but she also got criticized for potentially infringing on the privacy of others, ironically counteracting her professed concerns about safety and privacy within such spaces.

Among the critics was transgender writer and activist Charlotte Clymer, who pointed out the irrationality of McMichael’s choice to film inside the gender-neutral bathroom when gender-specific options were readily available nearby. On X, Clymer remarked, “Let me see if I understand this: you are literally seconds away from gender-restricted bathrooms for both women and men that are nearby, and yet, you’re choosing to go into the one gender-neutral bathroom and film inside it like a weirdo?”

The critique didn’t end there, as others questioned the appropriateness of McMichael’s decision to record a video inside the restroom. Comments ranged from direct criticisms of the act of filming, labeling it as “very creepy,” to observations that the gender-neutral bathroom’s design—featuring fully private stalls with locking doors—actually represented the most private public restroom solution seen by many. “This is the best solution thus far for the bathroom argument. These are all fully private stalls with locking doors. More private than any public restroom I’ve ever seen,” one user wrote.

Moreover, several responses underscored a broader consensus that filming within any restroom, regardless of its gender inclusivity, was inherently problematic. “Gendered or not, pretty sure it’s not ok to be filming in there,” and, “You filmed inside the bathroom like an absolute weirdo instead of walking 50 feet over to the women-only bathroom because you wanted to act like a victim and instead you’re just hella creepy,” were among the pointed remarks shared by users, reflecting widespread disapproval of McMichael’s approach to critiquing the airport’s restroom facilities.

Justice Horn, the chair of the Kansas City LGBTQ Commission, pushed back against the video in an interview with The Advocate.

He said that this is not the first time in the little over a year since the opening of the restroom that conservative influencers have become scandalized by the existence of an additional washroom option. Horn addressed McMichael’s criticisms by emphasizing the availability of traditional restrooms steps away.

“I knew it was untrue,” he said. “I knew that there were specifically gendered bathrooms down the hallway, but when folks come into our new airport here in Kansas City, they tend to go to this and put it out for content to manufacture some kind of fake outrage or that, you know, this has gone too far when really this isn’t a radical idea. You know, your single-stall, all-gender bathrooms are on the plane or port-a-potties, and there is a bathroom at your home. So this is just creating additional space and public space for folks to, you know, have more privacy, be more private, and to, you know, have that in a 21st century airport here in Kansas City.”

Horn suggested that McMichael’s actions were a deliberate attempt to incite a reaction from her followers. “She purposely went into this knowing that this would be a lightning bolt to really whip up a lot of the folks who may support her,” Horn said. He emphasized that the concept of a single-stall, all-gender bathroom is not radical, noting their commonplace presence in various settings, including homes and airplanes. According to Horn, the goal of having these restrooms available was to create “additional space and public space for folks to have more privacy.”

He said the policy underpinning the construction of the gender-neutral bathroom was designed with inclusivity in mind, aiming to benefit a wide array of individuals, from parents with young children to people with disabilities and older adults.

“This policy and this space embrace everyone where they’re at. It allows everyone, no matter your background or where you come from, to have privacy, to be a part of this airport, and to feel that you are safe,” he said.

Horn pointed out that the restrooms are available to parents who often have to accompany their small children into public restrooms.

He condemned the spread of misinformation and hysteria around the issue, labeling it as “unfair, fake, and evil.”

Horn suggested that if the controversy continues, the city might consider marking the bathroom as a tourist attraction. “If we keep doing this, I’m going talk to the city manager, and we’re going to get little plaque that says, ‘This is the infamous all-gender bathroom,’” Horn said.