The Cinder Block Comedy festival charges “straight white men” more than women and the LGBTQ community to apply for a spot at the festival.
The Cinder Block Comedy Festival is protesting against the wage gap between men and women in a unique way. Female comics are charged only $19.25 for a submission while “straight white men” are charged $25. The festival has also decided to support people of colour and the LGBTQ community by giving them the same discount. Organizers say this is in attempt to curate a truly diverse lineup and not just including someone of colour for the sake of diversity.
Festival creator and director Coree Spencer, employs an all female staff for the event slated to to run at a venue in Williamsburg, New York City from September 15 to 18. The festival derives its name from an incident when Spencer was severely injured by a flying cinder block on the Puslaki Bridge. She said that the differential pricing was an effort to mimic the 77 % gender pay gap between men and women. Later she expanded the movement to support equality for people of colour and the LGBTQ community by getting straight white male comics, who rule the world of comedy, to check their white privilege. Coree said she was looking at maintaining the same theme in ticket prices but she might face legal action as discrimination on such factors is against the law in NYC.