Lambton Golf & Country Club 100 Scarlett Rd. Lambton Golf & Country Club Manager Human Rights Violations of Mom A Shimo Breast feeding on CTV News Human Rights Violations. Toronto Ontario
Nursing mom asked to breastfeed in basement after golf club diners complain
A Toronto mother is demanding an apology from a golf club after she said she was escorted to the venue’s basement to finish breastfeeding after other guests complained on Saturday night.
Alexandra Shimo and her partner Lia Grimanis brought their two-and-half month old son Jacob to a charity event at the Lambton Golf and Country Club in the Dundas Street and Royal York Road area in Toronto’s west end. Shimo told CTV Toronto on Sunday, that when Jacob became hungry she found a quiet corner in the hallway outside the dining area to nurse him.
“I’d been happily feeding Jacob and a couple people came up and said how sweet he was and I thought that it was really quite idyllic,” she said.
As she was sitting in a corner of the hallway breastfeeding, Shimo said she was approached by a male service manager carrying a large tablecloth to hide her. She said the manager said a few patrons had complained to the club’s management that they could see her from the members-only restaurant. Shimo was told the diners said they “didn’t want to see this while they were eating.”
“I thought this is ridiculous,” Shimo said. “Why do you find the sight of a baby breastfeeding disgusting and why have you made me feel ashamed?”
Shimo said she immediately stopped nursing Jacob and covered up. The club manager then led her downstairs to the basement so she could finish feeding her child.
“The way it was handled,” Shimo said. “I was slightly embarrassed because he made me feel like it was a shameful thing by sort of covering me up and saying people didn’t want to see it.”
Grimanis said she eventually located Shimo breastfeeding on a couch in the basement and decided to photograph the moment. She posted the photo on Facebook on Saturday evening, to demonstrate what Shimo looked like while she was nursing. Soon after, Grimanis said, her post “exploded” with outraged comments.
“We had messages from people in Denmark, from the U.K., from the United States and all across Canada,” Grimanis said. “I think we’ve really tapped into that idea that we’re not going to go quietly into the basement anymore, this is our right to breastfeed.”
Many of the commenters on the Facebook post expressed indignation at the incident and questioned whether the golf club was legally allowed to ask a breastfeeding woman to move.