Outrage erupts after San Francisco spa excludes trans people from ladies-only night to preserve ‘phallic-free’ space

A Russian spa in San Francisco named Archimedes Banya stirred up controversy after it excluded transgender people from its “ladies only” night in order to preserve the “phallic-free” space.

The night at the full nude spa is only scheduled once a month, but transgender people and their allies expressed outrage that the spa was trying to exclude biological males from the ladies’ night.

‘Will a phallus-free trans man showing up to their ladies-only night be accepted or rejected? It’s totally unclear.’

“It’s NOT about one night! It’s a symptom of a deeper problem and it’s gonna become worse if we don’t speak up against it now,” said one account on Reddit whose name referred to Satanic themes, according to the San Francisco Standard.

Razelle Swimmer, a transgender person from Oakland who had bottom surgery, canceled a plan to go to the spa as a birthday treat, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Swimmer was infuriated and devastated over the new policy.

“I don’t have a phallus,” Swimmer said. “I have been erased in that statement, and it has almost certainly erased trans men from this. Will a phallus-free trans man showing up to their ladies-only night be accepted or rejected? It’s totally unclear.”

Abhishek Vaidya, the general manager of the spa, said in an email to the Standard that the spa was trying to respect women with cultural and religious beliefs related to being in the presence of nude people who were born biological males.

“We need to help religious women and tried to navigate an important conversation about inclusivity, safety, and respect,” he wrote. “We recognize that our words did not fully reflect our values, and for that, we are truly sorry.”

The Standard noted that other spas in San Francisco had no restrictions on transgender people, including a Japanese spa and a Korean one as well.

In response to complaints, San Francisco Human Rights Commission officials told the Chronicle that they were “analyzing the business’s policy and all inquiries to determine next steps.”

Rafael Mandelman, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said that people might be sensitive because of actions taken by President Donald Trump to restrict the transgender agenda in the U.S.

“In this hyper-fraught moment, where everything is political and trans and nonbinary folks are under assault, I think there’s a real desire at least in our little blue island to be protecting that population,” he said.

Not all transgender people were outraged, and some even said they were supportive of the monthly exclusion.

“I think that cis women having their own day isn’t that bad,” said a 25-year-old transgender person to the Standard. “No sane person goes to the banya every day of the month.”

Trangender protesters are picketing outside the business.

The protests can be seen on the news video from KPIX-TV on YouTube.

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