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Transphobic Staff of the Stag Shop

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  • For those of you unfamiliar with the company, Stag Shop is a chain of adult stores in Southern Ontario. They sell sexy lingerie, anatomically correct sex toys, bondage gear, and adult magazines and DVDs. It's an adult store, dedicated to adult fantasies and fetishes, yet it seems they have a policy against allowing transgender customers to use their changerooms, all because another customer might come in and might be offended.

     

    Really?

     

    Below is the letter that I sent to the Area Manager this morning. In the interest of fairness, I'm willing to give her the chance to redeem the company, but I am so unbelievably furious, I just had to share.

     

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    Is it the Stag Shop in general that is blatantly transphobic, or just the employees of your St. Catharines store (387 Ontario Street)? 

     

    Is it the company's policy to boldly discriminate against transgender customers, or is just that of a select few bigots in St. Catharines?

     

    Is the Stag Shop really so stupid and arrogant as to offend a large demographic, or is it just the St. Catharines store that can afford to piss off their customers?

     

    My wife and I stopped in the St. Catharines store last night, looking for a nice, high-quality, properly binding corset as a Christmas gift for myself. When my wife asked the sales associate (who was either a Manager or an Asst. Manager, based on what we could see of her name tag) for assistance, she was initially all smiles and eager to assist. The moment we told her the corset was for myself, her entire demeanour changed, and she refused to even look us in the eye. She said she had no idea what to suggest for pricing, so we told her my dress size and my bra size. She couldn't even acknowledge that, and kept referring to my jacket size instead.

     

    When we finally managed to get a reluctant recommendation of an XL, we asked if I could try it on. She stammered and paused for a moment, then told us 'no', because the piece we were looking at was a clearance item and they can't be tried on. Fair enough. We asked instead if I could try on a non-clearance corset in order to get a feel for the sizing. She initially said 'yes', but quickly changed her story and said 'no', it was store policy not to allow men in the changerooms. When we questioned her on it, she changed her story again, and said it wasn't store policy, but Stag Shop policy. Her argument was that because you have a lot of female customers, one of those customers MIGHT come in and MIGHT be offended. She said she disagreed with the policy, and that if there were no other customers around, she would allow it. As soon as we pointed out we were the only customers in the store, she changed her story again, and said she couldn't allow it because there were cameras and 'they' were watching.

     

    So, I ask you again, is this really the policy of a company that brags about "enhancing sex-positive attitudes and sexual well-being" or does your mission of "providing customers with outstanding service in a comfortable shopping atmosphere, through our energetic, friendly, and product knowledgeable sales-team" only apply to a select few?

     

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    If anybody else has had a similar experience, I'd love to know what you did about it, and what the response was. For the record (not that it should matter), I haven't been feeling well these past 2 weeks, so I was looking my androgynous day-time drab self last night - clean shaven, long hair, plain black button shirt, capris, and simple black sandals. I was hardly the epitome of masculinity, and not exactly someone to attract attention should that hypoethtical customer come in to be offended.

    Sally ¢¾ http://bibrary.com
      December 1, 2011 3:11 PM GMT
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  • Couldn't you have just gone to another store?
      December 2, 2011 6:07 PM GMT
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  • Yes, but why should I have to?
    Sally ¢¾ http://bibrary.com
      December 2, 2011 6:14 PM GMT
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  • To get what you wanted to buy in the circumstances that you wanted to buy it in.
      December 2, 2011 7:22 PM GMT
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  • It's partially the principle, partially the location, and partially the price. All their clearance merchandise goes to that store, and I'll never find a $140 corset for $29 anywhere else.
    Sally ¢¾ http://bibrary.com
      December 2, 2011 7:41 PM GMT
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  • Theres nothing like fighting for your principles and going to another shop would indeed be nothing like fighting for your principles.
      December 4, 2011 12:43 PM GMT
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  • a lot of underwear is no try no return so the assitant was right.
    plus just cos a shop has goods doesn't mean they haev to sell them - something called 'invitation to treat?' these days the economic realities should mean better service but there will be lots of transphobes about.
      December 7, 2011 8:51 PM GMT
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