Comments on: Update: Nightclub owner says allegations of discrimination against transgendered woman a misunderstanding

By: JaneSupporter

JaneSupporter — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:08:40 +0000

To be clear… the pronoun is SHE. Jane is female, regarless of outward sexual organs. GENDER IS NOT LIMITED TO FEMALE OR MALE BODY PARTS.

Those of you weighing in on the subject, but with clearly zero knowledge regarding a person who is transgendered, have no right making any kind of comment. Until you can form an EDUCATED opinion, based on facts and real knowledge on the matter surrounding Jane, all you do is solidify your intolerant, fear-based, ridiculously ill-educated transphobia. A transWOMAN is NOT “a man in a dress”. Put the internet to some good use in your household, and READ UP ON TRANSGENDERED PERSONS. Stop flappin’ your gums until you do… because you’re just showing the world how completely uneducated you really are.

As for Jane… my dear, you should be proud of yourself for keeping your witts about you when faced with such a humiliating situation. And whats more, good on you for NOT keeping quiet about it either! This world will never learn tolerance, respect and compassion for ALL HUMANS, if those being wronged don’t come forward. You have my endless support!

I also think that it’s commendable to see the club owner so willing to resolve the issue. This is a very important step in achieving universal understanding!

By: Friday Jones

Friday Jones — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:36:52 +0000

Sean wrote: “If someone chooses to live outside of societies norms then you cannot expect to be dealt with in a normal fashion.”

Sean, that’s like saying that if your neighbor is Jewish you don’t have to follow the Golden Rule when dealing with him. Just because SOMEONE ELSE is what you consider abnormal doesn’t mean that you aren’t a hypocrite if you treat them any differently than you treat anybody else. Live and let live, or is that no longer considered a North American tenet?

By: Barguy

Barguy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:58:50 +0000

And might I add, I guarantee these other people whining about discrimination in these comments, have never stepped foot in Level, never met the owners, and never met “Jane”. You are all attacking a family run business that has been donating very generously to the cancer society, and working alongside with the local RCMP to make nightlife safe for everyone. Do a little research next time you start making these allegations.

By: Barguy

Barguy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:23:02 +0000

Let’s be honest here….. If anybody would look at this from a business standpoint, if there is a patron in a bar that is making others uncomfortable, the bar has every right to remove the problem. We live in a society that unfortunately hasn’t fully accepted or understands that lifestyle, so if it’s going to hurt someone’s business, should it not be up to the owner of the establishment? This specific nightclub I believe is geared towards people ages 19-40. I happen to frequent this establishment, and the owners and staff are always gracious and accepting. I often look around on the dancefloor and half the people are gay/lesbian/transgender. This is simply a case of one of them being overdramatic and going to the media simply for the sake of crying about discrimination. Suck it up, you made the choice, you deal with the critisism.

By: MiHu

MiHu — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:16:52 +0000

I usually don’t read comments left on news sites because some people have obtuse opinions that I find frustrating. Since this issue is important to me, I’ll sit with this discomfort for the time being.
*sigh* The victim in this incident is not on a soapbox, she is speaking out against an injustice that happened to her (yes “her”, silly). There are no reports of complaints from other patrons, the staff took it upon themselves to act based on their own opinions/ prejudices.
This incident was no doubt damaging to the victim. Can you imagine the bravery it takes for a trans person to come out in public as their true identified self, knowing full well the vicious intolerance that many people feel toward them? And then to gain a certain degree of comfort in a place, to feel “regular”, only to have the proprietor ambush you in the washroom and escort you out. How do you think would that feel?
Gender is not determined by chromosomes, or whether you were dressed in blue or pink as a baby. Gender is about personal identity.

Love you,
MiHu

Ed. note: This comment was edited slightly for content. Back off your Bic’s people, these are live issues that aren’t helped by flame wars.

By: W

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:52:52 +0000

I cant believe this is still going on! How is this a danger to women in their washroom? A trans woman is exactly that a WOMAN, if someone is going to be this cautious about peoples safety in bathrooms perhaps they should have a machine so same sex people aren’t able to use the washroom either! I cant imagine how this poor woman felt being treated like some perv! Im sure if anyone who has an issue with the trans community actually met someone, got to know someone who is trans, they would close down any establishment that would treat ANYONE like this!

By: Deev

Deev — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:20:36 +0000

I just hope that everyone can come to some sort of agreeable conclusion with the mediation happening, and that this will help transgendered individuals be more comfortable in this area. It’s an unfortunate situation and am sorry it had to happen. Transgendered people are all around us. You may work with them, shop with them, socialize with them and not even know it.I’m sure it something Jane didn’t want made so public. I can’t imagine how humiliating this was/is for her.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:08:51 +0000

whatthe: do YOU know what your chromosomes are? I mean, you can assume that they match your physical sex, but without testing your genes, you have no way to know for sure. There are various medical conditions where an individual may grow up physically as one sex, but have the chromosomes of another. Caster Semenya is a sad but notable example of this occuring.

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:58:27 +0000

There is a thing called freedom dictated by democracy, that
handles things like this. People are not to be subjected
to this kind of treatment as pointed out by Sarah, in our
society plain and simple. I am an old grandpa who hears
any number of things, and the world is a very different
place than when I was young. Even so, I have 23 grand kids
but even at my age, someone being gay, or transgender or
anything else people are labeled with, don’t frighten me.
That is what makes people uncomfortable, fear, of others.
Fear leads to ridicule, and attitude, and that in itself
is sad, because with a little understanding one can get
beyond being uncomfortable and maybe even find some compassion for others. Its funny how we see all the things
happening around us, and we talk about societies norms,
All law abiding citizens are now acting within societies
norms, we are living in a whole new world and some people
don’t understand, I don’t either but at least I can try.

By: Monika

Monika — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:42:15 +0000

Calling a transwoman “it” or a man in drag is hurtful and hateful. A transwoman is a woman and people who feel uncomfortable are going to have to get over it. Feeling uncomfortable about someone’s gender identity does not trump the safety and dignity of transwomen.

As for categorizing people by their chromosomes, it isn’t as simple as that. As much as we like to think of sex as a dualistic category where we are either one or the other, it isn’t that simple and many people fall outside of this binary system.

As for the club owner, I am irritated by his confusion of sexual orientation and gender identity, although it is entirely possible that it was the way his quotations were reported. If he was really sincere, he would meet with this woman and apologise and put training in place so that it never happens again. A drink ain’t going to cut it.