2 Women Who Say Police Made Them Prove Their Sex File Claim

Two women bodybuilders have filed a $1-million claim against several Costa Mesa police officers, alleging that the officers called them “transsexuals” and forced one of them to submit to a search to prove she was female during a rock concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre.

Civil rights attorney John J. Duran said his clients, Bridget Morton and Lori Sencer, were confronted by a group of about five police officers at a Billy Idol concert on Oct. 27 as the pair were leaving a women’s restroom.

The officers allegedly taunted the women and called them derogatory names while a crowd surrounded them.

“I kept telling them we were bodybuilders and that this was all a mistake. But they refused to listen,” said Sencer, 28, who has been weightlifting for more than 12 years.

Sencer said she provided the officers with her driver’s license.

Duran said that the officers told Morton, 20, who was not carrying any identification, that she had to submit to a genital inspection by the concert’s first-aid nurse to prove that she was female, Duran said.

The police then took Morton to the first-aid station nearby to be searched by the nurse. After the nurse told the officers that Morton is a female, the police then left the two alone, Duran said.

“This is inexcusable behavior for the police,” Duran said. “Imagine the fear of these women and the fact that they were ridiculed.”

A Costa Mesa police spokesman said the department had no comment on the complaint.

Sencer and Morton are currently visiting a psychiatrist because of the incident, Duran said.

Before the two women can proceed with a lawsuit, they must first submit a claim against the city. They filed the claim Friday.