Remember Corona Tavern, that fine establishment that totally didn’t break the law and totally doesn’t continue to break the law by micromanaging who pees where? Well, the bouncer involved in the story decided to take a principled stand and defy his employer’s gag order in order to condemn the mismanagement of Corona Tavern by Lorraine!

Hahahaha. Just kidding.

“I asked her about her surgery,” said Smith. “Had she answered post-op,  it would have ended there. I asked to clarify the matter. Had she said post-op, use the woman’s bathroom all you want. She identified herself to me as a male.”

According to Smith, River expressed concerns for her safety and the bouncer offered to personally escort her to the men’s room.

Smith, who says he is a friend of the LGBTQ community, says he became upset when River’s friends began to swear at him, calling him a homophobe and a transphobe.

“And worst of all, they called me a hateful bigot,” recalls Smith. “Anybody who knows me knows I’m none of those things.”

“That hurts (coming) from a group that wants tolerance and respect. To spew hatred at me and take a personal attack on me, sorry, it doesn’t help.”

Once again, fragile cishet white bro has to make it all about him.

Un-fucking-believable. So, Smith, let’s review the mistakes you made that corroborate these accusations against you:

“I asked her about her surgery,”

Which is sexual harassment. Calling you transphobic is letting you off easy. You shouldn’t be talking to the media, you should be talking with a detective who is considering pressing charges.

Look at it another way–if we ever meet, the first words out of my mouth will be “are you circumcised? how big is your dick? are your testes symmetrical? DO THESE QUESTIONS MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE??”

“Had she answered post-op,  it would have ended there. I asked to clarify the matter. Had she said post-op, use the woman’s bathroom all you want.

And were you going to check her genitals? Just making sure you’re aware that actually verifying this ludicrous policy means committing sexual assault.

She identified herself to me as a male.

Which unfortunately reflects the fact that minorities can and do internalize messages that work against them. Unless by “identified herself” you mean “handed you an outdated non-binding government document.” Do you have any idea how many different agencies you have to update your info with? Alberta is accommodating these days but damn, the clerks at the registry know me because I visit on a monthly basis. I don’t even have to explain it to them anymore! “Another gender marker?” “Yeah.”

Smith, who says he is a friend of the LGBTQ community,

So does Corona Tavern, incidentally. Actions speak louder than words.

“That hurts (coming) from a group that wants tolerance and respect. To spew hatred at me and take a personal attack on me, sorry, it doesn’t help.”

Unfortunately for you, Smith, my rights are not contingent on me being polite.

Y’all ready for the icing on top?

The soon-to-be former bouncer says he reached out to the president of Medicine Hat Pride who reassured him that he had not done anything wrong.

Putting the LGB in LGBT yet again, Pride movement?

Medicine Hat Pride seems to contradict that statement (or at least realize how fucking antagonistic it is to trans folk):

In response to media reports relating to the staff changes at the Corona over recent regrettable incidents involving the transgender community, neither Medicine Hat Pride Associatio [sic] or any members of its board are in a position to comment on the appropriateness of the actions by any Corona staff, nor to assess whether or not a violation of rights occurred. We continue to offer our full support to members of the LGBT community and look forward to opening a dialogue with the establishment to address this issue and explore long-term solutions.

How delightfully whitewashed. Ciswashed? Is that thing? It is now. Somebody photoshop that shit.

Here’s your long term solution, Medicine Hat Pride and Corona Tavern: Stop fucking worrying about it.

-Shiv