Social media users have rebuked a recent rebrand by Hindley St venue Tijuana Showgirls, which has seen the bar change its name to Go Go Lady Boy.
Labelling the new name “offensive”, “racist” and “transphobic” Facebook and Twitter users are calling for people to boycott the venue.
@larsie21 @ShayleeActually I mean I know it’s SUPER trendy these days to appropriate Asian or Mexican culture for your super hip club or bar
— Miss Twin Peaks (@cottonsocksgirl) March 17, 2015
@larsie21 @ShayleeActually but this is just ridiculous, it’s also a direct attack on queer people. not cool. — Miss Twin Peaks (@cottonsocksgirl) March 17, 2015
Some on Facebook have defended the new name, calling it a celebration of Thai culture and the transgender community within it.
“ACTUAL Thai ladyboys, in Thailand (which is the theme of this bar btw) advertise themselves as such, and proudly so. it is the acceptable term for transgender in Thai culture, just as transgender is in Australia,” one user writes.
“Furthermore since so many of you who are complaining about this should be informed enough to know how much violence and segregation transgender people in our country are subjected to, it’s ironic you are finding the term ladyboy, used in a culture where trans people are vastly more accepted and celebrated, offensive. Shouldn’t you think it’s a great name?” she continues.
It looks as though the venue is set on sticking with the brand name, as they’ve bulk ordered a pile of branded condoms for the opening night this Friday.
IYIYIYIYIYIYI!!!!!!
GO GO LADY BOY IS OPENING THIS FRIDAY!
It’s going to be one of the biggest weekends yet, get in early and be PREPARED.
Reflection of “long-standing fetishising and cultural stereotypes”
Damien Riggs, an associate professor in social work at Flinders University and psychotherapist specialising in working with transgender people, says the new name “perpetuates misinformation” about transgender people.
“It treats people who identify as ladyboys as a cultural artefact open to appropriation, which ignores the significant risks experienced by transgender people more broadly,” he tells Rip It Up.
“Specific risks to ladyboys include involvement in sex for pay – and hence potential HIV transmission – in addition to violence from both fellow Thai people and from tourists.
“Arguably, both names reflect a culture of misogyny, in which female bodies are seen as objects.”
The bar, and its predecessor, is one of many themed bars in Adelaide taking inspiration from cultures, many existing in lower socio-economic communities, from around the world, from the Brazilian slums to the Caribbean islands, to Mexico.
“Culture is reduced to a ‘theme’ and seen as reflected primarily in ‘decor’,” Riggs explains.
“The shift to a new name for the club arguably reflects a similar form of cultural appropriation, this time drawing on Thai culture. [It] reflects a long-standing fetishising and cultural stereotypes about Thai women in general, and those who identify as ladyboys specifically.”
For those dismissing the new brand as nothing more than a name, it is worth considering that those in the LGBTQI community have significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety and an increased risk of suicide than their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts.
A study released today by Curtin University researchers suggests trans people may experience worse mental health than any other community group.
The First Australian National Trans Mental Health Study, the largest study of its kind in Australia, found that trans people are four times more likely to have been diagnosed with depression than the general population.
Tijuana Showgirls/Go Go Lady Boy manager Eddie Kleut was contacted for comment but declined to respond before the bar opens this Friday.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
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