A Vancouver venue that bills itself as a “safe and inclusive space” denied entry to at least one patron last week after determining her hairstyle—which resembled dreadlocks—violated its so-called “cultural appropriation policy.”
“I don’t understand. You’re not letting me in because of my hairstyle?” asked Crystal Clearly when being denied entry.
An off-camera individual, presumably a venue staff member, can be heard confirming: “correct.”
Staff at the Birdhouse venue went on to explain that Clearly’s hairstyle violated their rules.
The Birdhouse, nestled in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, operates as a “queer- and trans-run art space hosting drag shows, dance parties and other performances” — and a venue that prides itself on “accessibility.”
“One of our core values is treating safety and accessibility as a never-ending process and effort, that can always be taken a step further,” co-owner Paige Frewer told local media earlier this summer.
That “never-ending process and effort” towards “accessibility” doesn’t apply to individuals who violate the venue’s “Code of Conduct policy.”
Frewer said the venue applies its “Code of Conduct” to all guests, performers and staff. That also includes what the Birdhouse describes as a separate “cultural appropriation policy” intended to “centre the safety and wellbeing of our racialized guests.”
True North obtained records of the venue’s policies.
While many provisions are standard for event spaces—such as a zero-tolerance stance on harassment or physical violence—others are unusual.
“We ask that guests take responsibility for understanding their own privileges,” the code requests — further urging guests to “be mindful” of how they “take up space, both physically and verbally.”
The venue boasts a “strict zero-tolerance policy for any form of oppressive behaviour, including but not limited to misogyny, racism, body shaming, homophobia, transphobia, ableism,” along with “any other behaviours or attitudes that contribute to an unsafe or unwelcoming environment.”
“Always obtain explicit consent before engaging in any physical contact” or “interaction with another person,” the Code instructs.
The “No Cultural Appropriation” section of the code, meanwhile, declares that the venue has zero tolerance for “cultural appropriation” — with the Code’s authors relating the concept to “consumption, profit, capitalism, and social capital is a form of theft” and “harm to marginalized communities.”
The Birdhouse defines the practice as “the nonconsensual wearing or utilizing of culturally significant and/or sacred elements of a culture that you do not have ancestry or genuine, meaningful relationships within.”
This includes “avoiding the use of traditionally black cultural hairstyles if you do not identify as Black or Black mixed race.”
“It’s taken a lot of intentional discussion and workshopping with community over the years, but upholding a standard of cultural sensitivity that goes beyond the status quo is something that means a great deal to folks, and has helped us build trust with our communities,” the venue said in a previous public statement on the policy.
The cultural appropriation component is so detailed that it requires an entire code of its own.
The policy-within-a-policy, titled “The Birdhouse Cultural Appropriation Policy,” is nested within the broader “Code of Conduct Policy,” and elaborates further.
The anonymous authors of the Birdhouse’s “Cultural Appropriation Policy” clarify that “cultural appropriation typically results in the applause or celebration of the ‘appropriator’, in contrast with the persecution or mockery of those who have practiced the customs culturally and historically.”
It then offers a list of clothing items, hairstyles and fashion accessories that could be further examples of “cultural appropriation” and therefore in violation of the codes: bindis and saris; Native American headdresses and accessories; along with dreadlocks, cornrows, and boxbraids.
Keffiyehs were visibly absent from the list.
It is unclear how many guests have been denied entry due to the Birdhouse’s “Code of Conduct.”