Bathroom alert -- Freezone

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Nora
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The following email was sent by a friend who had gone to Freezone
this past weekend.

Some news you may want to distribute. Sent by one of the Las Vegas
locals to me.

Nora
. . . . .

I went to Freezone last Saturday night.

I have been going in femme to Freezone 2-3 times a month since last
May. I had been going about a month when I needed to use the
facilities for the first time. I asked the bartender for permission to
use the Ladies room and he said it was no problem. Since then, I have
again asked permission occasionally just to make sure. Maybe another 3
times since then. I was always told it was OK. Last Saturday was a
change. I went to the Ladies room and found that there was a female
Freezone employee on guard at the door. We were told that unless we
could produce a legal ID showing we were in fact females, we had to use
the Men's room. I explained that I had been coming here for months and
had been told it was OK for us to use the Ladies room. She was very
course about things and said the policy had always been that we would
need to use the Men's room. Not feeling comfortable doing this, I went
back to our table without using the facilities. As I started back,
another Freezone person, a young man, came over and nicely explained
that the owner had always insisted that only real females could use
the Ladies room and that they just had not been enforcing the policy.

However, the owner had decided that as of now, the policy would be
strictly enforced. I finished my drink and left. My friends were upset
about the policy and I felt really embarrassed after telling my
friends I had been going there for months without a problem. So I
guess I have a few options: 1) Go to Freezone in male mode 2) Get a sex
change 3) Go in femme but leave when I need to use the facilities 4) Go
in femme to meet friends but not purchase anything 5) Just not go to
Freezone at all. Right now #4 and #5 sound the best. I can't control
friends I know that already go there. It's there choice. But, I don't
feel I can spend money at any place that would treat me like that. I
would think that a Gay/Lesbian establishment would be a little more
considerate of us. Just thought the others in our group might want to
know this information before they find out the hard way.

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(This posting was entered by Nora, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: kumiko yvonne watanabe
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It sounds like Freezone must have had a incident or complaint,
strong enough to enforce a non-posted restroom policy for usage
of the women's restroom.

I wonder if this same guard cards all men going to the mens room to
filter out FtoM people.

Could this be a temporary change? If there was a incident, then
temporarily restricting the usage until things cool off may be what
they are trying to do, then at some point in the future, allow the usage.

Maybe FreeZone wants only gay or lesbian, and no trans or
cross dressers, and this is their way of a subtle push in that
direction, and yet not refuse our business, and if this is the case,
its a permanent change in restroom policy.

But in consideration for FreeZone, they haven't refused the use
of a restroom, be it the men's restroom. Since its a gay/lesbian bar,
using the mens room isn't as bad as using the men's in a mainstream
venue.

However it will now be awkward for any CD or a TS that doesn't
have their sex legally changed to "F" to use the men's restroom at that
venue as of this time.

Should DLV still use FreeZone as a happy hour on Wed?

Nora, is there any way of verifying the policy?

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(This posting was entered by kumiko yvonne watanabe, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: joan dupree
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I think we better not give our business to Freezone anymore. I can think
of lots of friendly places to go. Sincerely, J.

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(This posting was entered by joan dupree, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Tina
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>5) Just not go to Freezone at all.

I like option #5 also. (I should point out that I won't be at DLV this
year, so my opinion may not be worth much.)

We've had problems like this there before several years ago. At one time,
there was a warning about Freezone on the vendors list.

Thanks,

Tina Tawdre

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(This posting was entered by Tina, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Ginger
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This is a good example of why it's best not to ask, but to
conduct yourself properly at all times and in all places.

I can't imagine that a gay club like Freezone has the budget
to employ a permanent bathroom guard. Further, if they do,
it's going to cost them a bundle over time and this will
go to the owner's bottom line. There must have been some
precipitating incident to cause this.

Last year we were asked not to come back to a straight Irish
pub we had previously gone to. In telling us we were not
welcome, the person I talked with apologized and explained
that our group had been perfect customers, but their new
policy was based on the misconduct of others. These
transgendered customers were making GG customers feel
uncomfortable. In every case I've heard of in the
implementation of policies limiting t-girls, there
has been misconduct by one or a few which resulted
in later inconvenience to many others.

Why don't people ever learn?

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(This posting was entered by Ginger, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Nora
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>Nora, is there any way of verifying the policy?

The Freezone policy as far as I am concerned is verified. The
report was given to me by the person that had the experience.
She is a good friend and a member of our group. If she said
it happened then it happened.

Nora

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(This posting was entered by Nora, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: annie
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>> There must have been some precipitating incident
>> to cause this.

My guess is that there are a number of factors at play
here.

One may have been customer complaints, and perhaps
some prejudice with it.

> the lesbians complained that the drag queens were
> hogging up the ladies room all night

Yes, there's unfortunately some anti-TG WAB/WBW bias
in the lesbian community. It's probably going to be
around for quite a while.

However, "hogging up the ladies room ..." might
indicate some blatant misuse, which is quite possible
in this case as well.

Another factor is likely some obvious use. Rubbing
somebody's face into the fact.

>This is a good example of why it's best not to ask,
>but to conduct yourself properly at all times and in
>all places.

Asking is, indeed, calling attention to the fact that
you are using it -- making it obvious.

IMAO, if you feel the need to ask, you're probably
unsure, and it might be better to make other
arrangements, particularly if the place is crowded.

> Should DLV still use FreeZone as a happy hour on Wed?

It's been pulled from the schedule, both for Happy
Hour and the Bar Crawl. There's been some off-line
talk of a replacement in the general area, but nothing
decided yet.

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(This posting was entered by annie, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Mary Beth
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> There must have been some precipitating incident to cause this.

It might not even have been a t-girl per se. At one Providence gay
bar the lesbians complained that the drag queens were hogging up
the ladies room all night so a similar policy went into effect.

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(This posting was entered by Mary Beth, an external user of MyDLV.)