If there’s one thing the world learned in the wake of reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner’s coming-out announcement earlier this year, it’s that an unconscionably large number of people still sees transgender folks as fair game for tasteless attempts at humour. One would think that Bill Hicks Bar, a Leslieville dive named for a beloved stand-up comedian, might be a little more hip to what passes for comedy these days (but then again, they did name themselves after a guy who used to make gay jokes about New Kids On The Block).
Earlier today, someone helming the bar’s Twitter account posted an image of a recent Cosmopolitan cover featuring the women of the Kardashian and Jenner reality TV families, with the caption “Even the women in this family look like [transphobic slur]. #callmecrazy #kardashian.”
After Twitter users began responding with complaints, the post was deleted. Also deleted today was this Instagram post from July. (A tweet linking to the post is still live.)
No statement or apology has been issued by the bar so far in response to the criticism.
Evidently, they didn’t learn from El Furniture Warehouse’s Instagram fiasco earlier this summer, when someone (a third-party social media manager, the company later said) reposted a photo drawing parallels between Jenner’s famous Vanity Fair cover and a transphobic scene from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
For their part, EFW’s management began engaging with LGBTQ community groups like U of T’s Get REAL soon after (which was either a desperate attempt to fix their PR or a heartening sign that there is life after frat-bro masculinity, depending on your outlook). But it seems unlikely that any such reconciliatory moves will come from a business that holds queer folks in such obvious contempt, it uses even the LGBT acronym as a punchline.
nataliam@nowtoronto.com | @nataliamanzocco
