On April 15, a Twitter user pointed out to the company Cinemex for “an attack of transphobia”, the incident occurred at the facilities of the Reforma 222 shopping center, located in the Cuahtemoc mayor's office in Mexico City.
According to her tweets, an employee of the complex asked her and her companion to leave the women's toilets without any justification, and she would have denied her gender identity by calling them “gentlemen”.
“We just went through an attack of transphobia in @Cinemex of 222. They ran us out of the women's bathroom.” , wrote @ColettiLo, the woman who claimed to have been a victim of transphobia.
In her short thread, the influencer detailed that the person used as an argument the presence of minors to request their departure from the toilets: “A movie employee came in and called us' caballeros' and asked us to get out of the bathroom because there were people with her children.” , Coletti wrote.
It should be noted that transphobia is defined as follows in accordance with the Glossary of Sexual Diversity, Gender and Sexual Characteristics provided by the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (CONAPRED):
“Rejection, discrimination, invisibility, mockery, non-recognition of the person's gender identity and/or expression and other forms of violence based on prejudice, stereotypes and stigmas towards people with trans identities, expressions and experiences, or who are perceived as such.”
So calling two trans women “gentlemen” would be a manifestation of transphobia by Cinemex staff, since the employee would have relied on stereotypes to “determine” that she should take them out of a space to which all customers have access.
The statement made by the dancer and choreographer had an immediate impact on Twitter users, as the name of this cinema chain quickly became a trend. In addition, dozens of people belonging to the LGBT+ community rallied to Cinemex for not providing gender training to their employees.
It should be noted that so far, Cinemex has not issued a statement or positioning regarding this incident, but several netizens commented and demanded such a response in the tweets of the company's official account.
“I go in to see Cinemex's tt (trending topic) and I realize that I am so indignant about the degree of TRANSPHOBIA there is.” , “It's discrimination,. It is a public and free place that should be left behind” and “I am a woman and I have no problem. The problem is their intolerance and hypocrisy” were some of the comments of netizens.
However, there were also many people who began making hostile comments and personal as well as gender-based attacks towards the influencer who reported being a victim of transphobia.
Since Coletti had a link to her Instagram account in her profile, many people took her photographs without her authorization to mock and even “congratulate” Cinemex for refusing her to use a public toilet. Faced with various actions that could lead to cyberbullying, the choreographer has already set up her social media accounts as private.
Similarly, an alleged screenshot was released in which Cinemex would have clarified that the real reason for expelling Coletti and his companion is that they were apparently showing the genitals to minors.
It should be noted that this image is fake and was created with some photo editor, since the official account does not have the alleged answer, there are only ads for movies and Cinemex promotions
Homophobia and transphobia in Reforma 222
The situation pointed out by visual artist Coletti is not the first action against the LGBT community to take place in this shopping center. Since its inauguration in 2008, many people have pointed out that security personnel often expel people of the same sex or gender who are showing affection inside the premises.
In 2015, Jessica Marjane Durán and Alessa Mendez Flores filed a complaint against Reforma 222 and a private security provider for harassing and discriminating against them because they are trans women. Similar to the case exposed today, they were refused to use the women's toilet by security personnel in the square.
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