How will Philadelphia and the Philadelphia LGBT community deal with Icandy owner DePianno? What is the best course of action to take to heal, to work on, to improve community relations and respect of others?
If there was an easy answer to that, well the world would be quite different and much better off. In an attempt to get the ball rolling, Shangela showed up for her scheduled performance at Icandy in Philadelphia and took to the stage with a message and some hope.
Shangela brought owner DePianno to the stage where he did apologize again for the video. The crowd was quiet during DePianno's time on the stage, much quieter than when Shangela was speaking. Some of us will take his apology and go with it. Others will say you can never apologize for something like that.
"Statements are one thing. Actions are another." Very true Shangela.
If you missed DePianno's 3 year old video, head over to our previous post Racism, Media, & The Gay Community. We Are Far From Immune and see it toward the end of the blog.
Do you boycott a bar because of its owner? What about the staff? Here is their response to the situation.
PHILADELPHIA – Sept. 30, 2016 – PRLog — Icandy Nightclub has always and will always be an all-inclusive club for people of every race, gender or sexual orientation. We pride ourselves in being a safe environment;
free of judgement, free of ridicule and free of bias of any sort. We are a family. Unfortunately, recent regrettable and unacceptable comments were uncovered. A Principal of ICandy, Darryl DePiano, used racial epithets during a conversation approximately three years ago. These comments are appalling and in no way reflect the feelings of the staff of Icandy which is made up of a diverse group of men and women of many different ethnicities.
Mr. DePiano immediately took full responsibility for his actions and realizes that taking responsibility is just the beginning. Granting an apology is a great start but, is far from reversing a mindset that is crippling our society and community. Education in racial discrimination along with racial sensitivity training will start the healing process.
We ask for the opportunity to help us work together, and be a part of solving the problem of racial discrimination in the LGBT community. We have all, in some way, suffered discrimination in our lives, and it is NEVER ok to discriminate against any person, for any reason. We look forward to working with the community in addressing racial discrimination and creating equality for all.
Sincerely,
The Staff Of Icandy Nightclub
Others in the community have pledged to no longer support Icandy.
Will the fallout continue?
Does there need to be more fallout before the healing can begin?
Is there a chance for Icandy to turn around?
What are your thoughts?
Shangela introduced DePianno to the stage, where he offered up an apology to the crowd: “For those who know me, that’s not really who I am and what I stand for. Unfortunately, I have to take full responsibility for my really poor actions and the really disgusting language that I used.”
“I’m not going to run away, I’m going to stand up and take my lickings and hope that we can all make a change, mostly myself and help the entire community change.”
– See more at: http://www.thegailygrind.com/2016/10/02/drag-queen-perfect-response-philly-gay-bar-owners-racist-rant/#sthash.YYOIKrIr.dpuf
Shangela introduced DePianno to the stage, where he offered up an apology to the crowd: “For those who know me, that’s not really who I am and what I stand for. Unfortunately, I have to take full responsibility for my really poor actions and the really disgusting language that I used.”
“I’m not going to run away, I’m going to stand up and take my lickings and hope that we can all make a change, mostly myself and help the entire community change.”
– See more at: http://www.thegailygrind.com/2016/10/02/drag-queen-perfect-response-philly-gay-bar-owners-racist-rant/#sthash.YYOIKrIr.dpuf