I have been to Tilt many times, and it was enjoyable. It has now changed. As a woman, I do not go to the bathroom at bars alone. I always ask a friend to escort me as I am unsure whom I may encounter in line. This time, I chose a long time friend of 4+ years (who happened to be a gay man) because I was comfortable with him and trusted that he would take care of me if need be. No less than 45 seconds in to us entering the bathroom together did we start to hear a pounding on the door. We did not initially react because there was not security/a bouncer monitoring the bathrooms nor was there signage or guidance restricting the number and gender of guests in a bathroom facility. However, when i opened the door to exit, I was confronted by a female patron I had never seen as well as 'Francisco' who said he was an employee of the bar. 'Francisco' and this female patron began to berate me and my friend and accuse us of being inappropriate in the bathroom. I feel no need to defend our behavior as we were acting as any friends would, however, these two people were clearly uncomfortable by the fact that we were friends of different gender and sexual orientation. Upon exiting the bathroom, 'Francisco' told my friend and I that we had to leave the bar. When I requested a reason or a policy, he was unable to provide me with any explanation further than "you know what you did." Unfortunately for 'Francisco,' my intentions for bringing a platonic, long term, male friend to the restroom with me were for safety reasons. It was made clear after interacting with the Tilt/Black Jack staff that I needed protection not only against patrons, but also against staff. We were forcefully removed from the establishment with no other explanation besides, "you know what you did." Upon asking for a manager, we were only met with more security as if we were criminals and not just two friends trying to enjoy a night with one another. As we were forced out of the bar and begging for a clear explanation as to why, it became clear that the unidentified woman who was standing outside of the bathroom had made it seem as if me and my friend (of different sexual orientation) were being inappropriate in the restroom. Since they had so easily and without proof taken her word as fact, I attempted to explain my side of the story by sharing that this was my long term friend that I trusted to look out for me in situations that could be potentially dangerous for a woman. I am still eternally grateful that he was with me through this experience as the "security" at this establishment were clearly not interested in protecting the patrons and were only interested in upholding "policies" that were listed no where in the entire establishment. They (the 'security') proceeded to accuse me of engaging in inappropriate behavior with my FRIEND in the restroom, and as I was desperately trying to defend myself, I mentioned I had a long term boyfriend to which they replied, "do you think he'd be proud of you now?" These employees clearly felt superior to a woman and a gay man. They had no interest in understanding why a woman would want a man (friend or romantic) to escort her to the bathroom for safety reasons. They did not even provide us with a whole reason as to why they were throwing us out of the establishment, and proceeded to demean me with words such as, "I'm sure your boyfriend would love to catch you with another man." The complete disrespect and disregard for a woman's safety is astounding. If you have strict bathroom policies, they are to be posted on the walls and enforced by staff sitting at the bathroom. It is wholly unacceptable to throw two people out of your bar concerning "rules" that were established nowhere besides the bigoted brains of the people working that evening. I felt unsafe and disrespected by this staff. I have lived in DC for almost a decade and have experienced unacceptable behavior, but never to the point of writing a review and going in the next day (which I will be doing in this case). People should be allowed to take the precautions they need in order to feel safe. And if an establishment has policies, they must be posted and NOTICEABLE to their patrons. This was a shameful experience. If you only want to protect the safety and comfort of cis, white patrons, you should not be in business in 2022. Hire a proper HR and training team to guide you in the right direction before you endanger more lives. read more