Fubar Nightclub have refused to comment to Brig over a recent allegation that a member of their staff harassed a transgender student in one of the club’s toilets.
The refusal to comment follows a claim from Eli Graham, a transgender man, who spoke with Brig about the incident. Eli claims that when he was walking towards the sink, one of the toilet attendants walked forward and asked if he was in the wrong toilet.
Eli responded: “No sorry, I’m a guy.” Eli then said that the attendant told him; “No you’re not you can’t be in here.”
Eli continued saying as he was at the sink the attendant was constantly in his ear telling him that he was in the wrong toilet and that he wasn’t supposed to be there.
Eli has said that he felt intimidated and nervous during the incident: “This was my first time being confronted for being in a toilet, I didn’t know how to react to the situation, I didn’t want to say anything and I didn’t want to debate.”
After the alleged incident Eli said that it had “ruined the night.”
“I just woke up the next morning feeling awful that it had happened.”
Eli then contacted Fubar on social media the next day and Fubar offered to arrange meeting between Eli (who was to be accompanied by the President of the LGBT society and Union President Astrid Smallenbroek.)
Many members of the LGBT Society (who’s committee Eli sits on as Gender Identity Rep) also voiced their concerns to Fubar on social media and were met with the following statement, asking for calm on social media surrounding the incident:
Hey,
We don’t think this is remotely cool either & certainly not what Fubar is all about or who we are!
We have communicated with Elijah directly and requested a meeting as soon as possible to investigate & resolve.
Until the full facts are gathered, please calm down for a second.
Everything is certainly not always as it appears & Fubar certainly would not condone or support anything discriminating.
#LBGBTQIA
Twitter/Fubar Stirling
Despite this statement one response on social media from Fubar attracted criticism after telling one social media user to “pipe down” after accusing the club of transphobia and saying “f*ck Fubar.”
You used to work here, and know fine well this is not who we are or what we believe in. Please pipe down and stop distracting from the real issue here for your own agenda. We agree with diversity for all… not negativity and hate… #LGBTQIA+
— Fubar Stirling (@FubarStirling) November 8, 2018
A series of emails were then sent between Eli and Fubar’s manager arranging a meeting, Eli claims that this communication stopped after one of his emails received no reply. Although Fubar have previously said to press outlets that Eli didn’t accept their offer of a meeting.
Brig contacted and sent their managers several emails asking for a comment on the issue Fubar who said that they refused to comment on the issue.
Although Fubar have previously commented on the issue to the Stirling Observer on the issue, where Fubar reportedly denied the claims made by Eli and put forward their own account of the incident. Although Fubar have criticised the Stirling Observer’s initial report on the incident.
The comment made previously to the Observer read:
“In response to the claim that Fubar Nightclub discriminated against a trans-individual, we would like to take this opportunity to clarify some inaccurate statements.
The comment offers an alternative version of events to that of Eli’s:
“The toilet attendant, not a member of our security staff, was advised by a customer that two females had entered a male toilet cubicle at the same time.
“Without looking at the individuals in detail or identifying them as trans, the attendant knocked on the door and stated that they could not be in the same cubicle together.
“The individuals left the toilet and no complaint was made on the evening. This is a situation that often occurs and one of the main purposes for this job role.
They also criticised the social media fallout from the incident:
“When the complaint was brought to our attention (via social media) the following day, the licensee immediately offered to meet with the individual to begin investigating, to which the complainant advised that they would prefer to wait and immediately began a social media campaign.
Fubar have said that they found no wrongdoing on the part of their staff member:
“Following our investigation, we do not feel that the attendant acted in any way discriminatory and had absolutely no awareness that the individual was transitioning. We strongly disagree with the calls to dismiss this team member, who was only doing their job.
“I would like to point out that we have a very diverse team of staff and always have. They come from different backgrounds, gender mix, ethnicity mix and all cultural backgrounds.
“We promote diversity. Our team are an inclusive, friendly and very varied group of individuals. Within the company we have transgender team members and our very large and diverse customer base includes regulars who are in varied stages of transition.
“The venue promotes events specifically catering for the LGBTQ+ community.”
They have also said that Eli has not responded to their offer of a meeting, another conflict in the two accounts of the incident:
“Every attempt to offer a resolution to the individual has not been accepted and instead postponed while engaging in a social media campaign.”
Fubar Nightclub are still not commenting on the incident, Brig will report on any updates.
