Wild applause goes out to Erin Lederer, a senior at UNC Charlotte. When she noticed “Roofie Bombs” on the menu at Wild Wing Cafe, in University City, she didn’t ignore the reference to the notorious date-rape drug, she mobilized her friends and got the drink yanked from the menu.
Turns out, Erin is part of the Hijas Americans group, led by local author and advocate for young Latinas, Rosie Molinary. Read more about Erin’s story here.
Encourage more young women to stand strong, like Erin, by supporting Rosie’s non-profit, Circle de Luz.
“I was immediately sick to my stomach,” said Erin Lederer, a senior at UNC-Charlotte.What made her sick to her stomach wasn’t the food at the Wild Wing Cafe in the University area. It was the name of a drink listed on their menu.
“The idea that a drink can be a ‘Roofie Bomb’ is condoning rape and date rape,” said Lederer.
Roofie is slang for Rohypnol, a sedative that’s called the “date rape drug.” The drink had been on the menu for about five months.
“I don’t know why no one said anything,” Lederer said. “Maybe no one said anything because they didn’t think it would be worth it.”
Lederer said it was worth it to her. She e-mailed everyone she knew and Wild Wing Cafe. She also asked her friends to e-mail the restaurant.
A couple of days later, the drink menus had been removed and new menus were being printed.
Read more from MSNBC.com and NewsChannel 36 here.
What’s it like to be drugged with Rohypnol? Like anything else, until you’ve experienced it for yourself it’s hard to say. But this award-winning short film will give you an idea:
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2009.
This is a wonderfully brave example that we could all look to follow! Thank you Rhiannon and CL for covering this story and for bringing this positive example of a local young woman speaking and changing the world around her to our attention!!!
This Erin girl is an idiot. Wild Wings is great and I take offense at her tactics. Did she contact the manager or the business first before slandering them in the media? She quite obviously wanted to vilify a great restaurant for her own narcissistic gain or she would have done this privately.
Furthermore, Roofie bomb is the NAME of the shot. How about the Tropical Roofie and Roofie Colada recipes out there? It is no different than red headed slut, shaved beaver, or any other number of offensive shot names.
I can’t stand people that have nothing better to do than cause needless trouble. Saying that a shot name has the ability to condone rape is ridiculous. My hair is red, so by her logic – I guess I have a national “We’re Not Sluts” campaign to launch. Please – Get a life.
Thank you for covering this story! I appreciate your efforts in helping me spread the word.
Dear Annoyed, while I seriously doubt you are worth my time, I have a couple free minutes to humor you.
If you’d like to know the truth, the media contacted ME, thanks. And yes, I did speak with the managers beforehand and they new the media was involved. And before meeting with WCNC I made sure the news coverage wasn’t going to blast Wild Wing Cafe, because after all, they did just what we were all fighting for. I even stated that in the coverage. You must not know the definition of “slander”, because that is far from what I did. I told facts.
And to fill you in, the difference in a “roofie bomb” and a “red-headed slut” is the aspect of consent. A roofie completely closes the doors to consensual sex, because obviously, if you’ve ever been slipped a roofie, you’d know that you basically can’t function. The purpose of a roofie in our society is to severely impair someone so that they can be taken advantage of easily, so how is a “roofie bomb” not condoning date rape and date rape drugs? True, they have the right to free speech, but they don’t have to condone rape while exercising that right. If you weren’t so close-minded you might understand why a naming a drink a “roofie bomb” is so dangerous. Subtle messages have huge implications in our society. By naming a drink such, it is normalizing rape and making light of a serious situation. With 1 in every 6 women experiencing sexual assault in their lifetime, it’s time for a change. Change begins with our language. How do we explain to our children that rape is bad, but drinks that encourage rape are okay? Society is sending our next generation very conflicting messages. Clearly Wild Wing Cafe agreed with me, because they removed the drink.
Go Erin.
Go Erin.
What?