Beware of T*rfs at Pride
It's bad form but one sentence of vouching: I do mutual aid, CORRN, protests, campaigns, etc. I do a lot of activism and I do improv as a hobby. The two rarely meet but I'm in a unique position to warn folks of a small intersection and keep folks safe.
I was bullied/harassed at Rise Comedy last year after they promoted themselves with a tent at Pridefest last year. I tried bringing it to the owners, but one of them was just pro the harassment and instead of hearing my concerns, joined the harassment campaign. Mostly it consisted of making up stories about me that were "big if true" but were clearly false. The fake accusations mostly played to "man in a dress" tr*nsphobic stereotypes and when I tried to speak to the owners about it, one of them just tried to debate me about it. They knew the claims were false, but argued that I deserve the harassment citing how I express myself as tr*ns. Very debater bro chud coded. Very uncomfortable.
To give an idea, they made up problematic improv scenes I was in whole cloth. Like it's hard to prove a negative, but they made up a story that would have both been recorded and would have had an audience. Believability wasn't the goal of the campaign, it was harassment.
(This was over a long conversation and many long email exchanges, where the owners were constantly changing their stories. most of which is distraction. I'm not trying to be vague but it's a lot to distill. I have receipts for everything I've said and am happy to have further conversations about it in DMs and IRL).
After that months long process, I resided to just leave it be, but an owner was continuing to escalate, spreading some of the rumors to other theatres putting my success and safety at risk outside of Rise, so I'm posting. I'd rather let it alone, but they keep escalating.
I did speak to some other community members before posting and will say results were mixed. Some thought my story was completely consistent with Rise's culture and shared their own stories while others were surprised and didn't think my experience was reflective of Rise, generally. I can't share any one else's story because Rise owners have a track record of retaliation.
Rise Comedy is an especially difficult place to feel safe at. They don't have a gender neutral bathroom, and you have to find street parking downtown at night to attend their shows/classes. The vulnerability they ask of their queer patrons combined with having openly tr*nsphobic community members and owner just makes it impossible to feel safe there.
Call to action: Be careful. If you see Rise's booth tomorrow, go for it. Anyone actually at Pridefest tomorrow is probably lovely. Just know the theatre is run by and attracts unsavory folks. If you win a free show or something, just be wary, have a plan to stay safe, and look out for the dolls.
But also, every other improv community has gender neutral bathrooms and safe parking options. If you have had or do have a bad experience with Rise, you might just need to find a different community. There are explicitly queer friendly improv spaces and even a free option on Lavender Hill. No community is perfect, and improv communities are often dreadfully behind the times, but I sure would like more representation and dolls to play with so I hope this doesn't scare folks off.
If you're tr*ns and my warning doesn't resonate, cool. I'm glad you're having a good time and hope it continues. I'm not calling for a boycott or anything, just giving a warning informed by my experience.
If you're cis and my warning doesn't resonate, also cool, but I don't expect it to and trust me when I say I've already heard your perspective. Still glad you're having fun, though.
As a final preemption of comments I don't want to read, the Rise owner cut off the dialog and suggested I make a Reddit post if I was still upset with their actions. I was more than willing to continue working with Rise to find resolution and ways of making qu**r folks feel safe and included. They chose to end the process and escalate tensions.
See you at the parade! Remember, Prides still a protest!