Vancouver punk band cancels show after trans member denied women’s washroom access
Person playing rock concert (Envato)
A Vancouver punk band cancelled its planned show in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, after a transgender member said she was stopped from using the venue’s women’s washroom.
Rougaroux was due to perform at the Sportsman’s Club during a cross-country tour when singer Marina Hanly said a staff member put up a handwritten “ladies only” sign outside the women’s washroom as she was preparing to use it.
Hanly said she was about to enter the washroom while the band was unloading equipment when a bartender approached her.
“As I was just outside of the washroom… trying to mentally prepare to just go in there, the bartender came up and taped up a little handwritten paper sign outside the door that said ‘ladies only,’ and said, ‘Hey, we’re very strict about this,’” Hanly told CBC News.
Hanly said she did not enter the washroom.
Her bandmate and fiancée, George Finley, said he subsequently confronted the staff member about what had happened.
‘We were leaving’
Finley said he removed the handwritten sign before approaching the bar to ask why it had been put up.
“The words I used were, ‘Why, when my female fiancée is going to use the washroom, did you feel the need to walk in front of her and put this sign up?’” he said.
According to Finley, the bartender responded: “Well, if she’s female, there should be no problem.”
Finley said the band then decided to leave.
“There are four trans women travelling with us, including Marina, and I myself am a trans man,” he said. “So I walked over there and I told everyone to get the gear and get out, that we were leaving.”
The band cancelled the performance rather than proceeding with the show.
Rougaroux is made up of transgender and queer members, with Hanly saying that the band’s identity is overtly reflected in its music and social-media presence.
“It’s pretty clear that we are talking about queerness and that that is kind of like a big part of our identity as a band,” she said.
Hanly said she had previously spoken with the venue while arranging the booking.
“I had talked to them on the phone when I was booking this but, at the same time, you kind of would think that a venue would do… the bare minimum in looking at who they’re booking,” she said.
Venue says it does not offer trans people washroom access
CBC News spoke with someone who identified themselves as the manager of the Sportsman’s Club.
The manager said the venue attempts to accommodate transgender people, but said that accommodation does not extend to access to its existing washrooms.
The venue does not have gender-neutral washroom facilities, according to the manager, and they said there are currently no plans to change the policy.
The manager did not provide their name.
The venue’s account differs from the band’s description of what happened at the washroom, although both accounts indicate that the Sportsman’s Club does not provide transgender patrons with access to its gendered washrooms according to their gender identity.
The incident has prompted criticism from members of Charlottetown’s LGBTQ+ community.
‘A really disappointing experience’
Derrick Biso, a local performer who was scheduled to appear at the show in their drag persona, Remedy, said they were disappointed by what happened.
Biso had contacted Rougaroux after hearing that the band was coming to Charlottetown and had arranged to perform at the event.
“[It’s] certainly a really disappointing experience, very discouraging and certainly one that is a violation of people’s human rights to access washrooms,” Biso said.
“The reality is hate is on the rise, and some of it relates to deep-rooted stuff.”
For Rougaroux the decision to leave was straightforward.
The group had travelled to Prince Edward Island as part of a larger cross-country tour, making the cancellation a disruption caused by the dispute.
The band has not indicated that it plans to return to the Sportsman’s Club.
For Hanly and her bandmates, the incident has also raised questions about what venues should know and communicate when booking out queer performers.
