During the boozy holiday season, between drinking bouts, I came across a disturbing post concerning how a famous Thonglor watering hole refused entry to a pretty transgendered person on the grounds that their new policy wouldn't allow any transgender women to receive the joy of overpriced drinks, inane music and shrieking boozehounds.
After mulling over this bit of information that I've checked with a trustworthy source, a good friend of mine called and informed me that most clubs on Pattaya's nasty walking street now ban transsexuals and transvestites. My friend would know because he often dresses in women's clothes.
This is 2014, I don't think there's any point harping on about how wrong it is to openly forbid anyone _ no matter how "freaky" society deems them to be _ from entering a bar because of their sexual orientation or fashion sense. Billed as one of the most sexually open-minded countries in the world _ a semi-fact that I am mighty proud of _ as well as the most hypocritical at that, Thailand has always been associated with ladyboys and all that The Hangover Part II BS, and I honestly am not shamed about living in this diverse country in every which way.
While we're barking on about equality and fair play in our political arena, we still allow sexism and racism to run amok evidently from outbursts over discrimination here and there, as well as thoughtless advertising and TV commercials.
When will it be over and done with?
I've actually been subjected to such humiliation once when I somehow ended up walking Pattaya's walking street with my cross-dressing friends one night _ my first and last time there. We were bar-hopping after watching Boy George spinning records, and we came across one establishment that had a sign clearly displaying a warning that said "transgenders are forbidden to enter these premises" in a serious "governmental" font. I became befuddled, and walked up to the guard, despite my friends' objections, to inquire why my friends wouldn't be allowed in, and the answer was so sadly idiotic that I didn't have the heart to go all Gloria Steinem on him. He, with a straight face, simply said "transsexuals often came in here and fooled our foreign customers that they were physically born as females, and the next day, guests would always come back and complain that they've been duped, so the owners decided to cut the problem".
Let's not get into the absurdity of the above sentence, but I can attest that it was a humiliating experience even for me who had all my lady parts intact the last time I checked. I can't even begin to think how it would feel for those that face such discrimination on a daily basis. How far can this go? Maybe next time, fat people like me will be banned from entering a bar since I could be the next great thief who hoards all the nibbles on the counters?
The recent ban in Bangkok's well-known bars, I've been told, stems from a gang of transvestites who go around stealing peoples' belongings in clubs and bars. I don't know what's the truth behind this. As we all know, people of all genders and sexual organs are capable of evil things, and to single out and stereotype one specific demographic is the evilest of all.
Most of my LGBTI friends would opt to let it go, and frequent other venues instead, but I feel it's time to rail against these sexist places. We need to a serious campaign to rectify such practice, and don't count on the state or serious gender-related organisations to touch on this subject since clubs and bars are not suitable for proper individuals to frequent anyway. According to their uptight standards, these are dens of vice, and any good LGBTI citizen should steer clear of them, so I don't expect them to bother launching an official attack.
I say, we _ of all sexes and genders _ should in turn boycott these places. These bars' biggest concern is making money and once we make a stand not to throw any money at them on the ground of human rights violations, I hope they will feel the pinch, and start treating everyone as equal.
You might think it's none of my business as I'm not a transsexual or transvestite. I'm not even gay for that matter. But I feel that if we continue to "let it go", we will still hear about this kind of poor judgment and blatant discrimination until we draw our last breath, and I'm bored of writing about it. Also, this uncalled-for segregation could extend into many other different areas, from political beliefs, weight to makeup choice. We will never know, and it could also happen to our loved ones or to us for that matter. Not now, but maybe soon.
So, let's rage on.
Onsiri Pravattiyagul writes about music and popular culture for Life.