Where are the women who don’t want to see penises supposed to go?
US — Koreatown, Los Angeles. A woman uploaded a video of her confrontation with spa staff over the presence of a completely naked man in an
US — Koreatown, Los Angeles. A woman uploaded a video of her confrontation with spa staff over the presence of a completely naked man in an area of a spa that clients were told was reserved for women and girls. The spa defended its policy, leading to protests and counter-protests that descended into violence.
In a video uploaded to Instagram on June 24, a woman, voice heavy with emotion, confronts an employee at the upscale Wi Spa at at 2700 Wilshire Blvd in Koreatown, Los Angeles. “So, it’s OK for a man to go into the women’s section, show his penis around the other women, young little girls – underage – in your spa? Wi Spa condones that, is that what you’re saying?” she asks a man standing behind a counter. As the staff member nonchalantly defends the policy, the woman insists, “I see a d**k. It lets me know he’s a man. He’s a man. He is a man. … He is not a female. 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. You did nothing. In fact, you sided with him.”
The employee insists that the spa was abiding by the law. Another woman says that she would not return to the spa and would be getting a refund, because “it shouldn’t happen.”
A smug-faced man with wet hair approaches the woman holding the camera and says, “You’re talking about a transgender person.” He orders the woman to “shut the f**k up,” because “you’re being a d**k.*
“Actually, I’m a woman who knows how to stand up and speak up for my rights as a woman,” she retorts. “I have a right to feel comfortable without a man exposing himself.”
She is interrupted by a male voice shouting, “Then go someone else.” However, several women can be heard agreeing with her.
“It’s not ok,” a diverse range of women standing nearby told the man. Voice breaking with emotion, the distressed woman holding the camera says, “That’s traumatizing to see that.”
The video went viral, sparking public anger over Wi Spa’s practices. The spa defended its policy to Los Angeles Magazine. “Like many other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles contains a transgender population, some of whom enjoy visiting a spa,” the statement said. “Wi Spa strives to meet the needs of all its customers.”
Attorney Peter F. Jazayeri, who is representing the spa, said, “California law prohibits discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people in business establishments.” California Civil Code 51 (b), makes it state law for business establishments to treat patrons according to their self-declared gender identity, rather than sex.
Grassroots women’s rights activists organized an “Anti-Pervert Protest” outside the spa on Saturday, July 3 at 11 AM. A flyer announcing the protest noted that “Wi Spa is allowing men to show their genitals to women in the spa! Women are being traumatized and Wi Spa has taken no action!”
SoCalAntifa, the Southern California branch of Antifa, staged a “No Bigotry in L.A.” counter-protest against the women, calling for “all hands on deck” to “protect our trans comrades!”
In one of several videos capturing the day of the protest, a pack of youths, some dressed in black and others in rainbow flags, are seen pursuing a lone woman down the street, chanting “Go home, transphobe!” Several youths of both sexes surround the woman, whom they had reportedly cut off from the group. A young man jumps to rip a sign from her hand and tear it up. As the woman takes the remnants of her sign back and begins walking away, the pack of youths fully surrounds her. They grab at her and push her to and fro, while the chanted order continues: “Get out, transphobe.” A member of the pack snatches the woman’s hat off her head and throws it. Another removes her sunglasses. The visibly frightened woman attempts to reason with the angry crowd. “I don’t mind trans people; I just don’t want to see their penises.” She is interrupted with sexist slurs and the continued chant ordering her to leave. She stands her ground.
Protesters from MAGA (“Make America Great Again,” a movement launched to mobilize support for former President Donald Trump during his campaign) and QAnon also showed up at the protest. The protest erupted into violence as Antifa and trans extremists confronted QAnon and MAGA. Photos showed that at least least one conservative wearing an American flag as a head wrap left was left with a bloodied arm reportedly resulting from a knife cut sustained from Antifa. A trans extremist live tweeting the protest said a MAGA member displayed a gun to him in a separate clash. Police were dispatched to the scene to quell the violence. Much of the crowd dispersed on police orders. Antifa and trans extremist Twitter accounts complained that police effort had been focused on their side as aggressors, “pushing” them for “no reason.”
Mainstream media picked up the story, but portrayed women’s protest to retain sex-specific facilities as “far-right protesters” upset over a “trans-inclusive spa.”
Wi Spa’s policy has apparently been in place for several years. A 2018 review of the spa posted on Trip Advisor by a female client said, “Last night I had the most disturbing experience in the women’s locker room.” She described how she was notified by a clerk that there was a transgender person in the locker room. “No problem, I’m not the type to discriminate,” the review said. She said she found herself showering “almost next to” a man with a “male organ hanging there,” and had to overhear him brag about his sexual exploits with “probably one hundred women” and search for a new girlfriend.
In the face of public outrage against Wi Spa, some are urging caution.
“This needs to be taken to the state and federal governments, not the business,” a woman commented on Facebook. “We collectively as a movement, as a society, let this get to this point, and we can’t now expect small business owners to take legal risks to protest against the status quo. If people really want change then now is the time before things become even more entrenched at the federal level.”
