Drew Droege says a manager at an LA area restaurant told him he couldn’t kiss his date –because they were both men.
Droege posted on Facebook and Instagram after the incident occurred on Monday at El Compadre in Echo Park.
Finishing up our second drinks, we had our arms around each other and kissed a few times. A manager approached our table and said something to the affect of,
‘you guys can’t do that here.’
We were confused at first, but then he very firmly stated,
‘this is a family restaurant.'”
Droege asked if any other guests had complained, confused because many of the fellow diners were straight couples
doing the same thing we were doing.”
They didn’t answer Droege’s question.
He threw his hands in front of us and said,
‘I don’t care if you’re the President of the United States, we don’t allow your behavior here.'”
We promptly got up and left. We were genuinely shocked. In 2022. In Echo Park, CA. At 6:30pm on a Monday…
Ever wonder why gay people often seem nervous? Why do we walk faster? Why do we work so hard to please others and be good little citizens in this world?
The story quickly spread online and on Tuesday afternoon, El Compadre’s official Instagram account posted an initial statement, which was removed according to Eater, before an updated post was shared on Wednesday night.
In the newest statement, the restaurant apologized for the actions of the manager and said that he has been fired.
We do believe El Compadre to be a family restaurant, and coming into our restaurant is like coming into our home. In our home we believe in love and equality and the fact that one of our employees made someone feel unsafe is not acceptable to us.”
Droege shared the restaurant’s apology message on Instagram with the caption,
Thank you everyone for all the support and love.”
Billy Eichner wrote,
Well done, @drew_droege. Thank you for speaking out.”
Another reminder of the country we live in.
On Tuesday Biden signed The Respect for Marriage Act into law and on Wednesday survivors of the mass shootings at Pulse and Club Q testified before Congress. We are loved and we are hated.
(via Yahoo!)
