Wi Spa controversy

On June 24, 2021, a woman posted a video to Instagram in which reported to show that she had confronted staff at Wi Spa, a Korean spa in Los Angeles, about the claimed presence of a nude individual with a penis in the women's changing area of the spa. The video went viral, attracting significant attention from gender-critical feminists and from some media, which led to protests and counter-protests.

On August 30, 2021, 52-year-old Darren Merager was charged with indecent exposure in Los Angeles County Superior Court relating to the incident after four women and one girl filed police reports in July 2021. Merager was a registered sex offender after having previously been convicted of indecent exposure in 2002 and 2003, had been required to register since 2006 and was convicted for failing to register in 2008. Merager is awaiting trial on seven counts of indecent exposure, according to court documents from 2019. Merager has denied guilt, claiming harassment over being a trans person.

On February 12, 2023, a judge ruled that the indecent exposure case could proceed, citing the testimony of two witnesses related to the elements of indecent exposure.

Several prominent media outlets, including Slate, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Blade, and The Intercept initially questioned whether the alleged incident had been a hoax.

Background
Traditionally, Korean baths and spas that carry the appellation jjimjilbang permit nudity within their gender-segregated areas, and are a "family affair". Wi Spa is a 24-hour, Korean spa located in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. It has four floors: a women's floor; a men's floor; one mixed-gender, family-friendly jjimjilbang floor; and a rooftop, non-bathing floor. Wi Spa's policies for guests mandate that swimwear not be worn in the gender-segregated floors, while "proper clothing" is required in the mixed-gender floor.

Wi Spa has an "Equal Access" policy for customers that covers "age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law".

Incident
A cisgender woman going by the name "Cubana Angel" posted a video to her Instagram account on June 24, 2021, alleging that Wi Spa had allowed a "man with a penis" to be nude in the women's floor of the spa, and specifically in the clothes-changing area. Angel, accompanied by two other women, confronted Wi Spa staff claiming "a man with a penis" was in the changing area and accosting staff for several minutes. During this time, Angel repeatedly mentioned the possibility of the individual's penis being exposed to children.

According to a subsequent news release from the Los Angeles Police Department, the incident occurred on June 23, the day before the video was uploaded.

In July 2021, it was reported that the unknown individual alleged to have acted in this manner had not been confirmed as a trans woman, but that the belief that they were had become common. During the incident video, a masked spa worker also seemed to assume the patron in question was transgender. Another individual questioned Angel if she was "referring to a transgender person" and she responded "There is no such thing as transgender." In a follow-up comment on the video she posted "REAL WOMEN RIGHTS MATTER" and on her personal website, over a week after the incident, that the individual was "a man who identified as a woman".

Spa response
In a statement to Los Angeles Magazine published June 29, 2021, Wi Spa outlined its position: "Like many other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles contains a transgender population, some of whom enjoy visiting a spa. Wi Spa strives to meet the needs of all its customers." The spa pointed out that California Civil Code 51(b) and 51(e)(5) makes it illegal for the spa to "discriminate" against transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

False accusations
On July 3, Precious Child, a musician based in a Los Angeles who is a trans woman, was falsely accused online of being the alleged person referred to by the incident video. The accusation spread and abusive messages, physical threats (including death threats), and accusations of pedophilia were made against her. Child said she had never visited Wi Spa and found the accusations of pedophilia "deeply hurtful," having been a victim of child sexual abuse. Angel later confirmed on Instagram that Child was not the alleged culprit. While the only notable individual example, other trans individuals in the LA area reported similar online harassment that ostensibly resulted from the incident.

In an August 6 interview with On the Media, Lois Beckett, author of the original report in The Guardian, paraphrased Child's experience as it was relayed to her, saying that the comments received by Child came from "different demographics". Specifically, "[Child] saw comments from sort of militia group types in the US, then from broader pro-Trump people in the US, then she said that like transphobic feminists in Germany and in Australia were weighing in".

Allegations of hoax
On July 7, 2021, the Los Angeles Blade, a Southern California offshoot of the Washington Blade, a prominent LGBT newspaper, said anonymous sources from Wi Spa staff and from within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had cast significant doubt on the incident as described in the video. The Wi Spa source said that the spa's transgender clients are well known by staff and none of them were recorded as present in the spa the day of the incident. The LAPD source said the department could not at that time evidentially substantiate the incident nor find evidence of any transgender person's presence in the day in question inside Wi Spa. The Blade writer speculated that a "cisgender man" could have acted in concert with the woman in the video, recalling a 2015 incident in Washington in which anti-transgender activists had asked cisgender men to enter female-only areas as a form of protest.

According to Los Angeles Magazine, on July 19, "several outlets have questioned whether the video was staged to generate outrage at a time when conservative politicians are weaponizing trans rights for political gain."

On December 19, 2022, Los Angeles Magazine published an interview with the suspect in which they repudiate the hoax notion, speculating that a lack of notoriety and paying cash at the Spa minimized their perception.

Political campaign by complainant
On July 18, The Intercept reported Cubana Angel joined Cure America Action (citing her press conference hosted by the organization) in a campaign to repeal California's anti-discrimination law for trans individuals. This was reflected on the woman's personal website where she was calling for said repeal. Cure America Action is a Washington, D.C.-based, nonprofit organization that claims it "advocates for conservative principles based on Christianity, Capitalism, and the Constitution." Marc Little, a conservative pastor, lawyer, and the organization's executive director, was representing Cubana Angel.

Criminal charges
During July 2021, four women and one girl filed formal legal complaints with the LAPD. In their complaints, the women alleged that they saw "male genitals exposed in the women's section" of the spa. Cubana Angel was the first to file such a report, on July 6.

On August 30, 2021, a 52-year-old individual, mostly reported as a trans woman, was charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office with five counts of felony indecent exposure in connection with the incident, corresponding to the five individuals who'd filed complaints in July. An arrest warrant was issued for said individual.

The suspect had previous convictions for the same offense from 2002 and 2003, becoming, as a result, obliged to register as a sex offender in 2006. In 2008, the suspect was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender. The suspect also had an open case from 2018, in which they have pled "not guilty" to seven counts of indecent exposure in front of women and children in a Los Angeles park. Regarding the 2018 case, the LAPD circulated an internal flyer which described the suspect as "homeless" and alleged the suspect "claims to identify as female" in order to gain access to women's locker rooms and showers.

In an interview with the New York Post published on September 2, 2021, the suspect denied their guilt, stating that they are the victim of "transphobic harassment" and are legally female. The suspect also said that they used the women's section of the spa facilities and were in the hot tub when she encountered Cubana Angel, claiming, "She [Angel] never saw me naked. I was underwater with water all the way up to my chest."

On December 13, 2022, the suspect was arrested and jailed, bond set at $350,000, with a court date of December 30. In a Los Angeles Magazine interview taken in September 2022 and published on December 19, 2022, after the suspect's arrest, the suspect stated to have come forward to the LAPD shortly after the incident, but was not taken seriously. The suspect again denied guilt, stated they were the victim of the situation, and that Cubana Angel "concocted" her incident narrative.

At a pre-trial hearing in February 2023, two witnesses attested that the suspect's penis had been erect. This was corroborated by the initial police report, filed by the witness known as Cubana Angel, which stated the suspect's penis was “partially erect.” A fourteen-year-old witness described the suspect's penis as “soft,” but added that she had never seen a penis before. The suspect spoke with a reporter during a court recess and was quoted saying, “Why weren’t the two dozen women in the spa indecently exposed? Only men can be indecently exposed, but women can’t? Only the penis is indecent.” The judge ruled that the case could go forward.

Incident virality and public reactions
After being posted, the incident video went viral, peaking most notably on Sunday, June 27, 2021. The video had increasingly circulated online on conservative sites, as well as gender-critical feminist spaces, including Mumsnet, Ovarit, and Spinster. Ian Miles Cheong, a conservative political commentator, posted two videos about the incident on June 27 via his Twitter account that reached hundreds of thousands of views. Andy Ngo, a journalist, also posted on Twitter about the incident.

The controversy was discussed on Fox News beginning from June 28, with commentator Tucker Carlson featuring the story on his show that evening. Various right-leaning media, including Fox News, The Christian Post, OneNewsNow, Blaze Media, The Daily Wire and RealClearPolitics, ran stories about the incident.

Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog, described conservative coverage as being "uncritically spread," and claimed the right was using a "disputed story" to "attack transgender rights". The Guardian called the manner in which right-wing media characterized the incident as "distorted" and "misinformation". When criminal charges were filed, these outlets retracted or edited their stories, without acknowledging that they had criticized other outlets as politically biased or spreading misinformation for covering what turned out to be an accurate story.

The spa was review bombed on Yelp and Tripadvisor following the extensive public awareness of the incident.

LGBTQ reactions
On June 30, KCAL-TV, a LA CBS affiliate, posted a story that quoted Bamby Salcedo, CEO of the Los Angeles-based TransLatina Coalition, who said the behavior of the woman in the incident video is not uncommon: "we experience this type of violence every single day of our lives." Salcedo stated that her behavior showed ignorance.

On July 5, The Washington Post listed multiple statements by LGBTQ individuals reacting to the incident: Zac Boyer, a manager at Stonewall Columbus, an Ohio-based LGBTQ organization, said the community wants to "preserve women-only spaces," but that "women have a variety of genitalia." San Diego Trans Pride organizer Jae Red Rose said of the alleged, trans spa-visitor: "She was within the women's section, which, you know, is exactly where she should be!"

On August 6, Julia Serano, an author and trans activist, said, while being interviewed for On the Media, that the rhetoric used by anti-trans protesters is heavily reminiscent of Anita Bryant's rhetoric from the 1970s, noting that the QAnon slogan "SaveTheChildren" (#SaveOurChildren was also used) "echoes" the name of Bryant's organization, Save Our Children. While Serano did not believe the link to the 1970s anti-gay slogan was originally intentional by QAnon adherents, Serano stated it was "essentially the same usage."

In a September 7, 2021 interview with academic Judith Butler, The Guardian asked whether the episode indicated a link between feminist movements and the far-right. When the facts of the case became clear, the quote was removed from the interview.

Protests
Evaluating the composition of demonstrators, the Los Angeles Blade described those protesting against the spa itself and transgender access to the spa as "a mix of religious fundamentalist street preachers, QAnon conspiracy theorists chanting 'save our children', and Proud Boys". Counter-protesters were noted as LGBT activists and some were wearing black bloc, a tactic known to be used by antifa demonstrators seeking to conceal their identities and involvement in a particular action, as well as displaying the antifa Pride flag (pictured below). Newsweek corroborated that QAnon and Proud Boy members were present.

A counter-protest was called for by a group calling itself SoCal Antifa, in a social media post which read "ROUND TWO MOTHERFUCKERS SMASH TRANSPHOBIA SMASH FASCISM".

July 3
Outside Wi Spa, anti-trans demonstrators scheduled the protest to begin at 11am, while pro-trans demonstrators had already scheduled for 10am. The opposing groups came to blows repeatedly, after which the Los Angeles Police Department declared that the whole gathering constituted an "unlawful assembly." The LAPD Rampart Division suppressed both groups, with riot control units using physical force, less-than-lethal weapons, and batons. Two people were stabbed, while another was beaten with a pipe. Slate magazine claimed that one of the stabbings was committed by an anti-trans protester against a pro-trans protester, while the other was of an anti-trans protester accidentally stabbed by an allied individual. The Intercept reported that "the violence was wrongly attributed to left-wing counterprotesters" since journalists Vishal Singh and Rocky Romano had produced "clear visual evidence" that the knife attacks and the metal-pipe assault on Romano were "the work of conservative" persons. One individual was taken to medical facilities following the protest. Police said they were investigating three instances of assault and battery and two instances of assault with a deadly weapon resulting from the July 3 demonstrations. No arrests were made that day.

July 17
Demonstrators and counter-demonstrators again surrounded Wi Spa in the late morning; however, police presence had been increased compared to the July 3 protest. According to the LAPD, the groups began to scuffle between each other and police around 11:10 a.m., police had smoke grenades and other objects thrown at them, after which an unlawful assembly was declared. After the declaration, LAPD used less-lethal bean bag rounds and 40-mm riot guns, as well as batons, against protesters. One pro-trans protester was pummeled into the pavement with repeated baton strikes, another, a woman, was shot point-blank with a bean bag causing her to collapse, and a journalist had their hand broken by police baton. After the event, police said pepper spray, stun guns, and knives were found on the streets. There were no reported officer injuries or medical transport of any protesters.

According to The Intercept reportage, police focused primarily on pro-trans left-wing demonstrators, kettling and arresting a significant group (pictured right). Overall, 38 were arrested, most of them pro-trans demonstrators. When questioned about the seemingly disparate treatment, police claimed that anti-trans/right-wing demonstrators were not arrested due to complying with the dispersion order, however left-aligned activists state that due to the kettling that pro-trans demonstrators were not allowed by police to disperse.

In a September 2022 interview with Los Angeles Magazine, the suspect of the incident stated they attended this event, never leaving their vehicle. The suspect also stated they were accused of being a Proud Boys member by a "mixture of Antifa types as well as this Black and pink group". When the suspect informed the group they were the suspect in question, they were not believed.

July 3
Rocky Romano, a filmmaker-photojournalist, was struck with a metal pipe. On September 14, charges of assault with a deadly weapon were filed against a 30-year-old individual alleged to have perpetrated the attack. The individual fled the scene in a vehicle linked to a minor 2021 California gubernatorial recall election candidate. On September 22, the individual was taken into custody by the LAPD.

July 17
Hostility toward journalists was evident from both right and left-wing protesters as well as police.

The Guardian journalist Lois Beckett was threatened and assaulted by right-wing demonstrators, being accosted, pursued, and eventually shoved to the ground after being pelted with water bottles. A local anti-fascist activist claims Beckett's attacker was a known Proud Boy who was present at the July 3 event.

A group of black bloc counter-protesters accosted and surrounded photojournalist Eric Levai, demanding he delete images. Levai, who fled the confrontation, had his equipment stolen. Beckett stated in an interview she thought the bloc believed Levai was attempting to dox them. The hand of a non-binary citizen-journalist was broken by police baton while filming.

Speaking to On the Media on August 6, Lois Beckett said the psyche of demonstrators on July 17 was "tremendous anxiety and paranoia about being identified", saying that protesters were very hesitant to be captured on media by someone not aligned with them, and violence against journalists allows groups to control the narrative. Additionally, responding to Brandy Zadrozny's comment about internet performativity, Beckett said the nigh-omnipresence of media made identification "unavoidable".