the pride
ISSUE NUMBER 61, VOLUME 32 | AUGUST 6 – AUGUST 20, 2021 8.6.2021 – 8.20.2021
WWW.THEPRIDELA.COM
LOS ANGELES
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THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER
Trans Incident At Wi Spa May Have Been Staged
June 24 incident under scrutiny By Sam Catanzaro
On June 24th an Instagram user “cubaangel” posted a video of herself angrily confronting a staff member at the Wi Spa in Koreatown, accusing them of letting a disrobed transgender person into the women’s section of the business. In the video the woman asks an employee why the spa allows a person who identifies as a woman but has male genitalia to be exposed in the women’s section of the spa when there are underage girls in the room. “He is a man,” the woman says repeatedly. “He is not a female, sweetie. … There are girls down there, other women, who are highly offended (by) what they just saw and you did nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, you sided with him.” The Wi Spa employee defends the trans client. As a crowd gathers, another client also confronts the woman, defending the trans
client. I’m recent days there has been increasing doubt about the legitimacy of the video. Anonymous sources within the LAPD have been unable to find any corroborating evidence that there was a transgender person present on that day. Similarly, a source at the Spa stated there’s no record of any of its usual transgender clients on its appointments guest list on the day in question. Treatment at the Spa is by appointment only, and most of its transgender clients are well known to the staff. Several other factors cast doubt on the veracity of the claims in the video. Cubaangel’s Instagram account is almost exclusively Christian memes, which begs the question why she chose to go to a spa well known for being LGBTQ friendly. During Cubaangel’s video, no transgender person can be seen, and no other witnesses have come forward to confirm the allegations made. It’s also not the first time Wi Spa has been targeted for catering to transgender people. After the alleged, unconfirmed incident, Wi Spa was deluged with 1-star Yelp! and Trip Advisor reviews.
It also remains a possibility that there was a person, unknown to the Wi Spa staff, who pretended to be transgender to create an inciting incident. In 2015, anti-transgender
activists in Washington State deliberately encouraged men to enter women’s facilities.
Trans Incident, see page 7
Disneyland Drops ‘Boys and Girls’ Reference From Fireworks Show “Good evening, dreamers of all ages” By timothy miChael Disneyland will be changing the introduction to its nightly fireworks show from “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dreamers of all ages” to “Good evening, dreamers of all ages.” The change is not only being made by the Disneyland Park in Anaheim but also by Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The updated, gender-less statement was included in the Fourth of July show, the formal reintroduction of the nightly fireworks display at both parks. The modified introduction will extend to other Disney amusement parks, specifically Tokyo Disneyland.
The fireworks update coincides with other changes at Disney parks. The company is in the midst of updating or removing outdated and offensive portions of rides, including racially-insensitive segments of the Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain. Back in the spring, the mega-corporation loosened its famously rigid restrictions on employee expression, allowing more flexibility in hairstyles, jewelry, nails, and tattoos. A Disney spokesperson told CBS News that the change is “part of a broader effort” towards greater inclusivity within the organization. The spokesperson added: “It’s not about one or two things.” The changes were welcomed by the amusement parks many LGBTQ+ fans and workers however more conservative fans griped about the changes.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons