“When hip-hop songs came on, people slapped my butt or called me ‘Hot Chocolate,’” said Owens, 25. “I think it’s important that people can actually see proof of how the community is.”Įrnest Owens, an editor for Philadelphia Magazine’s G Philly section, has written frequently about racism in the Gayborhood, which he said he also experienced. “You hear stuff being voiced, or people assuming racism in the Gayborhood,” said Peterson, 29, who is black. Rickey Peterson, who worked briefly as a bar back at ICandy in 2010 and was referenced in the video with a racial slur, said he is happy the video came out. I SINCERELY and Truthfully Apologize to all my Friends, Valued Customers, and Everyone that I Hurt and Offended.”ĭePiano did not respond to an interview request for this article. “This was an EXTREMELY Poor Choice I made on my own many years ago and I definitely learned and continue to learn each day. “As many of you know me and know that I am always striving for diversity, and always willing to listen, learn and grown myself, my business and my team,” DePiano said in the Sept. In a Facebook post last month, DePiano said his comments were made out of frustration.
The video features the voice, but not the face, of Darryl DePiano, the owner of ICandy, repeatedly using a racial slur, saying they’re the only patrons who ask for free drink tickets. 27 in the comments section of a story about the protest on Philadelphia Magazine’s website. 23 to highlight practices they say are racist, including ICandy’s “No Timberland boots” policy and the ban at Woody’s on athletic wear.Īn anonymous video was posted Sept. The collective protested outside the bars ICandy and Woody’s on Sept. This is the reality of being black and queer in America.” “They play our music and target us for the very blackness they’re making money off of. “The minute you walk into the Gayborhood as a black or brown person, you feel it,” said Shani Akilah Robin, creator of the Black and Brown Workers Collective, which held protests after the video release. It has sparked outrage among many in the city’s LGBT community, bolstered by the Black Lives Matter movement and support for gay safe spaces in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Now, they say, the video finally provides tangible evidence of their concerns. At bars, they say, they wait longer for drinks and are subjected to dress codes that ban athletic gear, Timberland boots and hooded sweatshirts, rules they say are meant to exclude them. Black gays and lesbians in the city say they are carded at clubs in the area known as the Gayborhood while they watch white patrons stroll in.