Is dancing together a big enough issue to get two men kicked out of a restaurant? Apparently, it is in a Puerto Rican establishment.
According to Remezcla, two men were kicked out of the Gyros Sample Bar in Orocovis, Puerto Rico because they were dancing together. The two men were allegedly told by an employee, “Heterosexuals can dance, not a man with another man.”
It turns out, at least one of the men was in fact gay. But, he’s not in a relationship with the other man. Despite that fact, both men, and their company, were still upset by the incident.
“This place is very homophobic. Just got kicked out for dancing with someone who wasn’t even my boyfriend,” wrote one of the men, Trey May, on Twitter after the incident. May also included a video of the men and their friends/family standing outside the establishment after the incident.
this just shows that the LGBTQ community has a battle NO MATTER WHERE they go. whether it is another city, state, or COUNTRY the LGBTQ family has to always be cautious of their surroundings. SPREAD LOVE always
— TM (@treymay_) December 29, 2019
But was the dancing really so bad? Another video, shared by CBS reporter David Begnaud, shows May dancing with his boyfriend’s friend, named Kelvin, as relatives danced around them.
Here's the full apology from the bar, posted to its Facebook page: pic.twitter.com/2LTXfwpQo4
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) December 30, 2019
After the incident, Begnaud spoke with representatives of the restaurant and they say the situation was a misunderstanding. According to them, the men were asked to smoke their e-cigaratte outside. After hearing this, Santiago-Rivera, May’s boyfriend, said the employee made no mention of their smoking. Instead, he made homophobic comments.
Meanwhile, the restaurant has released an open apology with the request to speak to May, Kelvin, and Santiago-Rivera directly.
“Our intention is to provide a good service to ALL equally,” they said in the post. “To the entire community, we had never had any misunderstandings with any member. The doors are open to receive them and treat them as we all deserve. If you give us the opportunity, we will prove it. TO THE BOYS WHO OFFERED OFFENSES. If they communicate with us, we can give them to them personally.”
But according to Begnaud, the bar has now claimed the men were removed because the dancers were bumping into other customers. As you can see from the video, one customer was bumped by a dancing couple. But it was, in fact, the male/female dancers that did the bumping. Ultimately, it appears the bar is saying anything to make this controversy go away.
Bar officials now claim the 2 men dancing bumped into people and that's why they were asked to leave. I asked the gay couple involved & they claim no one mentioned anything about that, only that 2 men were allowed to dance.
The bar has changed its story 3 times, so far.
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) December 31, 2019
Source: Remezcla
