Does Pune's Phoenix mall have a no transgenders allowed policy

Sonali Gawali

It seems Pune's Phoenix Marketcity has a no-transgender policy; mall's words, not ours! At least that's what security guards and a mall official told Sonali Gawali, 31, when she tried to enter. The incident happened on Thursday at the mall located in Vimannagar on Ahmednagar road. Gawali holds an MBA in finance and works as a social worker in NGO Ashirwad, which looks after rehabilitation of sex workers and their children's education.

The policymakers
Gawali narrated, "On Thursday, my friend Mahesh and I went to the mall around 8 pm to shop for Gudi Padwa. For security check, I went to the female guard, but she refused to touch me and asked me to wait. She called another attendant, who said they have a policy of not allowing entry to transgenders. I told them that I have visited this mall several times and had a party to attend to, but they didn't budge. When I asked them to show me the policy, they refused.

"No amount of requests seemed to work. Soon, the other women in the queue started fighting with them for me, but they still refused to let me in. This went on for an hour, after which a mall official came. I told him this was a violation of my human rights, but he too refused." Gawali added, "I was treated like a criminal, a terrorist... Finally, when a crowd of people protested against this, they let me in."

Miscommunication?
Sipi Portal, general manager (marketing) at the mall, said, "There was some miscommunication... We have had some bad experiences in the past, and so, the security was being thorough and verifying the person. But later, we let her in. She made it to her party and had a good time."

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