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gravityeyelidsvia http://ift.tt/2bcVwBv:Trans performer: NYC gay bar staff kicked me out for using women’s restroom:
projectqueer:
Valentine Steaphon, who was at Boots and Saddle to support a friend who was performing, says a security guard told her that the cisgender woman’s comfort was more important than her right to use the bathroom.
“We cater to straight women here,” Steaphon recalls the guard saying, in an interview with Mic, “and if you’re in the women’s restroom and she’s uncomfortable, you’re the problem, you can’t be in there.”
http://ift.tt/2asvwVC
New York protects the right of transgender people to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender. (Steaphon identifies as trans-genderqueer and uses she and he pronouns.) And gay bars have long had the unspoken rule that all of the restrooms are for everyone. Boots and Saddle, in a response posted to Facebook, say they’re restrooms have always been effectively gender neutral — a fact they’ll make more clear going forward.
“We are saddened that a member of our LGBTQ community felt marginalized for using the restroom at our bar,” the bar wrote. “We expect that every person who walks into our establishment feels safe and respected. To that end, we are taking measures to ensure that such an incident never happens again. Our signage is being updated to reflect what we have always believed — that our restrooms are gender neutral.”
http://ift.tt/2bcVCcm
It may seem surprising that this incident occurred during a drag show at a NYC gay bar and not a country bar in North Carolina, but as Steaphon points out, gay men can be transphobic too.
“The girl and her gay friend are yelling at me, saying ‘You shouldn’t be in there,’ and ‘Unless you have titties and a vagina, you should not be in there, you’re not trans,‘”Steaphon told Mic. “I feel like a lot of gay guys don’t want to hear it. They don’t know what makes someone trans.”
But one bar manager said he doesn’t believe the incident was about gender, and that all parties involved were asked to leave.
CLICK THE HEADER LINK TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.
projectqueer:
Valentine Steaphon, who was at Boots and Saddle to support a friend who was performing, says a security guard told her that the cisgender woman’s comfort was more important than her right to use the bathroom.
“We cater to straight women here,” Steaphon recalls the guard saying, in an interview with Mic, “and if you’re in the women’s restroom and she’s uncomfortable, you’re the problem, you can’t be in there.”
http://ift.tt/2asvwVC
New York protects the right of transgender people to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender. (Steaphon identifies as trans-genderqueer and uses she and he pronouns.) And gay bars have long had the unspoken rule that all of the restrooms are for everyone. Boots and Saddle, in a response posted to Facebook, say they’re restrooms have always been effectively gender neutral — a fact they’ll make more clear going forward.
“We are saddened that a member of our LGBTQ community felt marginalized for using the restroom at our bar,” the bar wrote. “We expect that every person who walks into our establishment feels safe and respected. To that end, we are taking measures to ensure that such an incident never happens again. Our signage is being updated to reflect what we have always believed — that our restrooms are gender neutral.”
http://ift.tt/2bcVCcm
It may seem surprising that this incident occurred during a drag show at a NYC gay bar and not a country bar in North Carolina, but as Steaphon points out, gay men can be transphobic too.
“The girl and her gay friend are yelling at me, saying ‘You shouldn’t be in there,’ and ‘Unless you have titties and a vagina, you should not be in there, you’re not trans,‘”Steaphon told Mic. “I feel like a lot of gay guys don’t want to hear it. They don’t know what makes someone trans.”
But one bar manager said he doesn’t believe the incident was about gender, and that all parties involved were asked to leave.
CLICK THE HEADER LINK TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.
