Approximately 70 protestors gathered in Khan Park on Saturday, Dec. 15 to address an ongoing conflict between queer community members and nightlife entertainers with the owners of Tabu — a Gayborhood bar and performance venue.
This conflict began on Friday, Dec. 8 when Tabu turned away Leila Delicious, a local burlesque performer, due to a sign she was carrying. The sign reads, “Our generation will free Palestine” with “Biden, demand a ceasefire. If you support genocide, you Isreal dumb! @joebiden @potus do the right thing” on the back. Leila Delicious, who is queer and Palestinian, planned to use it as part of her act. The next day, Tabu accused Leila Delicious of promoting genocide against Jews in an Instagram post that has since been deleted.
This isn’t the first issue to arise. There’s an ongoing dialogue about racism in the Gayborhood, a problem that persists well beyond Tabu. But many protestors felt this incident with Leila Delicious was the last straw in a series of missteps by Tabu over multiple years. They accused Tabu of pandering to queer people of color following the bar’s move and rebranding only to be met with discrimination and poor treatment.
A former employee, who is nonbinary and trans, sued after they were fired following their transition, and that lawsuit led to a settlement. Additionally, one of Tabu’s former security guards allegedly killed a patron, Eric Pope, last year.
Protestors heard a message from Leila Delicious
A protestor standing at the corner of Khan Park carried a tall flagpole that waved three Palestinian flags. Those gathered held signs that referenced the war between Isreal and Palestine, including one that read, “End the genocide in Gaza.” Others held Palestinian flags and Pride flags.
Rexxi, a nonbinary drag and burlesque artist, spoke to the crowd first. They explained their perspective about what happened to Leila Delicious, adding, “And this is just one of the latest fuck-ups in the 14-year history of Tabu.” The crowd booed. Rexxi accused the bar of firing trans people “for not fitting the vision of the bar,” allowing “sexual predators to continue to work there” even after complaints, and “banning people from the club for speaking out against them.” They yelled “Shame!” which was repeated by the crowd.
Rexxi noted that when performers attempted to share their concerns with Tabu last week, owners — including brothers Steve and Jeffery Sotland — “would not listen to our concerns, saying Leila’s sign was not free speech.”
“They did not and never have taken accountability for their actions. They’ve shown us time and time again that even if we try to reason with them, they won’t listen,” Rexxi said. “So we really don’t have any other choice but to be out here in the streets to let them know we’re never coming back.”
Burlesque artist and producer, Ziphina, who is Black and nonbinary, said performers at venues across the city feel exploited by unfair pay and discrimination, then called out Tabu for transphobia, racism and censorship.
“Performers deserve more than this,” she said. “We bring in the money for you, so we deserve safety and fair treatment in return.” Someone in the crowd responded to her speech, “Money talks! Bullshit walks!”
Ziphina then shared a message from Leila Delicious, who wrote a speech that acknowledged the incident and accused Tabu of attempting to silence and damage the reputation of her and other artists. She acknowledged her own privilege as a light-skinned Brown person and wrote, “We all, including myself, should have been discussing boycotts long before this — when we first saw their attempts to stifle and harm Black performers.”
“The accusations Tabu has made against me have been extreme and risked my safety,” she wrote. She explained that a New York venue paid her generously for a performance and invited de-escalators, who are part of Jewish Voices for Peace, to attend her show as a safety measure.
“What a stark difference from what happened at Tabu,” she wrote. “I want to see more action like this by our venues.” She thanked those gathered, adding, “When a venue doesn’t protect us, we protect us.”
Demonstrators left the park to march to Tabu. Two of the group’s chants were specific to the venue, including, “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. The Sotland brothers have got to go.” When they passed the venue, someone shouted aggressively from a top-floor window of the building across the street. They weren’t the only person to harass protestors.
“I just hope that out of this, more marginalized people who are performers in queer nightlife have a voice and don’t have to answer to these venues that care more about profit,” said Vincente, a queer Latino community member. “Things like drag — things that are queer art — are very political, and I hope we can return to that.”
“I used to be a patron of Tabu,” said Jazmyn Henderson, who is a Black, Jewish, trans woman. She admitted she was unaware of how performers were treated, saying, “It’s easy to miss what you’re not paying attention to.” She spoke of a need for a liberated space created by the community itself where people can be authentic and think for themselves without fear of speaking their minds.
Artists spoke up and performed as an act of resistance
Shakita Karr, a Black trans drag artist, told PGN she was banned from Tabu for “speaking out against their unsavory business practices and the way they treat the performers.” She added, “I honestly would just hope that they finally close their doors.”
Karr later spoke to the crowd when the march reached the rainbow crosswalk of 12th and Locust. She claimed that Tabu owners lied to convince others she deserved to be banned, explaining, “They tried to take the angry Black girl narrative and run with it,” highlighting a potential pattern of misrepresenting conflicts between the venue and performers.
Daelicious O’hare Mizani, a Black drag queen — who also claimed to have been unfairly banned from the venue — became so emotional he had to walk away from the bullhorn. “If you are not a cisgender white man, you are going to get hurt there,” he said.
Mew Ikki — a queer Muslim drag queen originally from Turkey — focused on the dangers of censorship. “Our art is tremendous to us,” she said. “In a world where everything is against us, it allows us to have a voice — a voice to give us comfort, community and a voice to fight. By taking our voice away, they are taking our power.’”
“It is time to take our business elsewhere,” she added. “It is time to take the stage elsewhere.”
“During our performances today, we want to show that we don’t need Tabu to perform,” said Xiomara, one of the organizers. “Our art will live on.”
Shakita Karr opened the show with an emotional ballad, lip-syncing to Cynthia Erivo’s “Stand Up,” bringing her hand to her chest and stomping her foot during the chorus: “That’s when I’m gonna stand up, take my people with me. Together we are going to a brand new home.”
The crowd cheered as Daelicious O’hare Mizani performed next, showing off high kicks, deep splits and skilled voguing. He dedicated the dance to Valencia Prime, a trans drag artist who died after collapsing on stage at Tabu. Her death was attributed to natural causes.
Mew Ikki’s energetic act included a death drop dance move. Tiffany Uma Mascara danced to Beyonce’s “Listen.” She twirled in the center of a circle of onlookers, her gold skirt flowing. “I don’t know where I belong, but I’ll be moving on,” the music belted. Members of the crowd raised their phones — flashlights on — and swayed.
Multiple passersby stopped to listen to speakers — including a group with children, who stayed after speeches to watch some performances. Organizers urged those gathered to donate to performers who are losing income during this conflict and to a charity Leila Delicious chose — the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
Participants dispersed around 6:30 p.m. — some to attend galaei’s DARLA award ceremony, which featured some of the entertainers at the protest. Organizers encouraged others to attend and highlight galaei as an organization that supports and affirms the LGBTQ+ community.
What was happening at Tabu?
It was a slow start to the evening for Tabu. Cops lined the street and sidewalk in front of the venue. Two security guards thanked them for their support when they left a little after 6:30 p.m.
About a dozen patrons were seen in the building or entering, and PGN attempted to speak with several as they arrived. A Tabu employee said many were there for a bar crawl. Some were tourists. One shrugged and said, “We’re just visiting from out of the area,” and didn’t seem to know about the incident or the protest.
Another patron, a European person who owns a home in Chinatown but typically lives in Florida, frequents the bar whenever they’re in Philadelphia. When asked about whether or not they were familiar with the incident that occurred, they said, “I heard about it.”
“I’m torn about it,” said the patron, who preferred to remain anonymous. They appreciated Tabu’s intention to keep people safe in their initial decision and wondered if both the incident and the community’s response were blown out of proportion given people’s strong feelings about the war between Palestine and Israel.
When PGN asked that patron if they knew about the Instagram post that accused Leila Delicious of promoting genocide, another patron — who appeared to be a white person and had an American accent — interrupted the interview and said to PGN, “I don’t like what you’re doing here.” When asked to clarify, they said, “This whole thing,” seemingly referring to PGN asking patrons about their knowledge and opinion of the events.
The owners of Tabu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.