EXCLUSIVE: Payton McNabb’s victim speaks out
Paige LeBlanc says she's "tired of hiding."
Donated photo
On May 2, 2024, a brief, awkward moment inside a women’s restroom at Western Carolina University was recorded, uploaded to social media and sparked a flashpoint in America’s ongoing culture wars.
At the center of the encounter was Payton McNabb, a former high school athlete and emerging anti-trans activist who walked into that restroom, and Paige LeBlanc, the trans woman and WCU student who was in that that restroom.
Within hours, LeBlanc’s presence in that bathroom had been broadcast all over the world, fueling an incendiary national narrative around gender identity and public spaces. For nearly a year, she remained silent.
Now, she said, she’s “tired of hiding.”
For the first time, she’s speaking publicly, offering an unflinching look at what happened that day, the institutional response and what she calls the federal government’s latest attempt to turn her and others like her into a political scapegoat.
Born and raised on Florida’s Gulf Coast, LeBlanc left home to attend the University of Vermont but struggled with the isolation, eventually dropping out and then setting out on a cross-country journey that took her through the American West.
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“I ended up in Las Vegas, and I started camping in and around the city, all of the national parks around there ... I wish I could say I loved every minute of it, but to tell you the truth, I was the loneliest I had ever been," she said. “Eventually I came to realize that the answer to that was transitioning and accepting that I could be beautiful and loving and a part of that.”
LeBlanc ultimately returned to North Carolina and enrolled at Western Carolina University in 2024, seeking a fresh start in a place where she could live openly as herself. For a time, it worked.
“WCU became a home for me ... until I met Payton McNabb,” she said.
In high school, McNabb claims to have been injured by a transgender athlete during a volleyball match, but has never provided medical documentation supporting her claim. That led to McNabb becoming a paid spokesperson for an anti-transgender group and even led to an invitation from First Lady Melania Trump to attend an address by President Donald Trump on March 6.
The incident that would make LeBlanc an unwilling public figure occurred at the very end of the Spring 2024 semester. After attending a pro-Palestine rally on campus, she stopped to use a bathroom in the central dining hall.
“As I was leaving my stall, I was aware of someone in the corner of the room by the door to the entrance, and they were just glaring at me," she recalled. "They eventually walked past me towards my open stall, as though they were, like, observing me.”
LeBlanc says McNabb bumped into her from behind, making contact with her backpack.
“I said, ‘Excuse me,'” Leblanc said. “And that’s when you can see everything else on the recording.”
LeBlanc also claims that she didn’t know she was being filmed.
“I didn't learn about it until the next day that there had even been a recording. I honestly didn't know in the moment that she had her phone out and was recording it. I was too terrified and too stricken by what was happening that I just missed it, I guess,” LeBlanc said. “The only thing that there wasn't in the video was my name. You can see my face, you can hear my voice and she blasted where I go to school in the caption."
The video quickly spread through conservative online spaces and was later amplified by accounts like Libs of TikTok. It wasn’t long before people on and off campus identified her. The reaction was swift and vicious.
“People calling me a pedophile, mentally ill, people saying that if they’d had a gun, it would have gone differently — things like that,” she said.
Officials from WCU contacted LeBlanc soon after the video went viral. She subsequently filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment under Title IX.
Title IX is a federal civil rights law passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs or activities that receive funding from the federal government. While it applies broadly to issues of gender equality in education, it is perhaps best known for expanding opportunities for women in athletics. Title IX also covers protections against sexual harassment and assault, ensuring that schools take steps to prevent them. The law plays a crucial role in promoting fairness and equal access in educational environments across the United States.
“I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. I knew that I didn't deserve what had happened,” she said. “I should absolutely fight this, and I should fight for my rights.”
What followed was a months-long investigation that culminated in a hearing LeBlanc describes as more traumatic than the restroom incident itself.
“Her lawyer, William Ellis Boyle, he asked at least six questions about my genitals ... I was compelled to answer by the hearing panelists,” she recalled. “I just couldn't understand how that was relevant,” she said. “I, the victim of this incident of transphobia, was being grilled and essentially humiliated.”
In the end, no disciplinary action was taken against McNabb.
“It became clear to me, as that process went on, that ultimately, cisgender people can't be trusted to make good decisions for trans people's rights because they don't understand how hurtful it is to be constantly misgendered, to be dressed down and dissected and violated,” LeBlanc said.
While LeBlanc said she felt personally supported by some administrators, she also acknowledged institutional limitations.
“I would have liked to see an official statement that condemned this action, but I kind of get that their hands are legally tied,” she said. “I felt very protected. I don’t know if that’s the right word, but I felt like they definitely were considerate of my well-being and I really appreciated that.”
Since the Title IX case closed, LeBlanc has tried to move forward. She founded the Trans Student Union at WCU, which now boasts nearly 50 members and 300 Instagram followers. The group received an award for its advocacy work during its inaugural semester.
But in recent weeks, she learned that her story isn’t over.
"The Department of Education under the Trump administration is now investigating Western Carolina University for a potential Title IX noncompliance issue [for allowing her to use the women’s restroom],” LeBlanc said. “The first thing they list is that they have credible evidence of a male in the woman's bathroom — referring to me.”
She believes the case is part of a broader political campaign against trans people.
“Trans people are not the issue,” LeBlanc said. “The issue is that we have a government that has chosen to make straw men out of an incredibly vulnerable, incredibly small group of people who pose no harm, no threat to anyone.”
LeBlanc said she considered speaking out sooner but was constrained by confidentiality agreements tied to the Title IX process, as well as her concerns about finishing her collegiate career without distractions.
"I never wanted to be famous or get this kind of notoriety, certainly not in this way where I’m a victim, where I'm humiliated, where I have no say in how I'm being portrayed," she said.
Then came the moment, on a late-night talk show, that changed her mind.
"I saw the John Oliver thing,” said LeBlanc. “There I was in the corner of the screen with my face blurred out, and I just thought I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was going to be my legacy forever ... this nameless, faceless victim of a transphobe."
With recent news of the federal investigation, she realized she couldn’t stay silent any longer.
"We need someone to speak up for us. We need leaders,” LeBlanc said. “Whatever I can do to stand up for my community to fight this, I want to do, and I’m going to do."
To LeBlanc, the fight isn’t about safety or space. It’s about dignity.
“Nobody signs up for this,” she said. “No one would elect to fight this battle, this humiliating battle over where I get to pee.”
Today, LeBlanc is focused on organizing, advocacy, and building up the queer community at WCU and beyond. An English major, her goals include working in the nonprofit sector, perhaps in grant writing, and lifting up rural LGBTQ voices.
Asked what she would say to Peyton McNabb, the person who filmed and outed her without consent, LeBlanc didn’t express anger.
“I would just ask her if she really thinks this is right, if she really believes what she’s saying, why she hates me so much,” she said. “How do you treat someone like this if you don't hate them?”
And then, from LeBlanc, the simplest of pleas:
“I'm sorry that she got injured, but I don't think it was trans people's fault,” she said. “I just wish that she would leave us alone. That's it. That's all.”
If you or someone you know has experienced discrimination or harassment based on gender identity, you can find resources and support through the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Trevor Project or your local LGBTQ+ center.
