An Ottawa-area sex shop says a city bylaw that saw it slapped with a fine for selling a chest binder to someone under 18 is also triggering important conversations about resources for youth struggling with their gender identity.
The owner of Venus Envy says bylaw officers originally came to the store on Monday in response to a complaint from a parent whose child purchased a band designed to flatten the chest.
Shelley Taylor says the store was originally fined $260 for failing to keep minors off the premises and quickly found itself at the centre of public outcry.
Taylor says local politicians, including the mayor, swiftly spoke up questioning the fine and saying the bylaw was out of date in an era where erotic toys and literature can be obtained nearly anywhere.
Taylor says the city has since waived the fine, but believes that wasn't the main issue.
She says it's more important to discuss the dearth of resources available to youth who fall outside gender norms.
"We were really saddened by this one person's story, obviously, but then also the repercussions of what that meant for access to a whole bunch of youth who might not have parental support," Taylor said in a telephone interview.
"It felt like it was really going to be a problem for a lot of people."
Taylor said Venus Envy is a "sex-positive" store carrying everything from sexual health education pamphlets to children's books depicting homosexual parents to toys and other paraphernalia.
She said similar merchandise aimed at gender-normative people is readily available, sometimes even in popular drugstore chains, but said her merchandise also includes alternatives for those with less mainstream preferences.
The chest binder, she said, is one such item that is not carried in a number of similarly themed stores she has encountered in her travels.
Taylor said she has no recollection of the purchase that touched off the controversy, adding the store sells about 20 chest binders each week and bylaw officials declined her request to see a receipt or other proof of the transaction.
But that's no matter, she added.
The larger issue at hand, Taylor said, is that youth grappling with issues of gender identity don't always have safe spaces to ask questions or gather information, and barring them from stores like Venus Envy limit their options even further.
Visiting the store in the company of an adult may not be feasible for those who lack support or are unwilling to share such personal issues, she added.
"It's a vulnerable place for people to be in often unless they've had a lot of experience buying these products," Taylor said.
Ottawa city councillor Catherine McKenney, who represents the mid-town Ottawa neighbourhood where Venus Envy is located, said that vulnerability is what prompted her to speak out against the fine and request a repeal of a bylaw she describes as outdated.
She added it isn't up to municipalities to regulate who's going into stores and what they're purchasing.
"For myself, as a parent, I feel that's my role," McKenney said, adding her view is shared by Mayor Jim Watson, who has backed her effort to revisit the rules.
"His stance was, like mine, that the wellbeing of anyone in our community, but especially (those) who are dealing with their sexuality or their gender — their well-being has to prevail over any application of a bylaw," she said.
McKenney said city staff have agreed to study the bylaw issue and hopes to see it off the books by early next year.
Photo: JEAN LEVAC
