No doubt you’ve heard a joke that begins like this: A person walks into a bar… There must be hundreds, maybe even thousands of jokes with that opening line. But what happened to a transgender woman who walked into a Tempe, Arizona, bar is no joke. It is, in fact, a violation of the law.
Briana Sandy went into the Tempe Tavern on Saturday to watch the Belmont Stakes race in which American Pharoah was seeking to become the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. Briana sat down and ordered a drink. What happened next she recounts on her Facebook page:
?She [the bartender] said ?I can’t serve you alcohol? and I asked why ? she said ?we don’t serve your kind drinks.? Then the guy came over and said you can’t stay here and all but forced me out the door. As I was leaving, I said ?Is this because I’m transgender?? and he said ?No comment.? Welcome to the 1960s South. Needless to say, I missed the race I knew would make history. American Pharoah won the Triple Crown and I missed it ? all due to pure outright discrimination.?
As you can plainly see, this bar not only lost money by kicking Sandy out of their establishment, they also broke both state and federal law by refusing service to a person because of their sexual identity.
A flood of negative comments on social media forced the Tempe Tavern to post this on their Facebook page:
?In regards to the internet mob mentality that has happened in the last 24 hours?.We reside next door to an adult book store establishment, that creates a ton of problems. Drugs, prostitution, and overall riff raff. A person of the LGBTQ community came into the bar and was denied service. Unfortunately, the new bartender over reacted and assumed she was from said establishment. We have burlesque shows that feature many members of the LGBTQ community. We welcome everyone. This is unfortunate, and we completely understand our part in it. And we are sorry. But to paint with a broad stroke and say that we are a terrorist, hateful organization, is both inappropriate, and a lie. And furthermore, posts that share people’s addresses, threats of violence, and ?anarchists? that threaten violence towards children, is over the line.?
Lemme see if I have this right: The Tempe Tavern will refuse to serve someone who is a patron of the adult bookstore next door to them? On what grounds? Sounds like they’re kind of making the rules up as they go along. But what they did is illegal and patently ridiculous. Everyone’s money is green! Who cares what the individual does in their personal life? I cannot believe this kind of crap is still taking place in 2015. It has to stop.
h/t AddictingInfo
