A Fayetteville, North Carolina bar owner who kicked a gay couple out because of public displays of affection says she is getting threats from “coast to coast” via social media because of her actions.
Long-time Fayetteville resident Dustin Baker and his visiting boyfriend Andrew Deras decided to hit up Louie’s Sports Pub for a few drinks and to catch the live band.
What Deras describes as a “minor peck” from Baker prompted bar owner Pam Griffin to approach the couple and ask them to “move apart.”
“You don’t need to be doing that,” she told them, adding “you’re making people uncomfortable.”
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So Deras planted a big kiss on Baker in front of Griffin, and that’s when she flipped her lid and made it clear they were no longer welcome.
Local affiliate WRAL interviewed attorney Michael Boose about the incident, who maintained that Griffin had every right to kick the couple out, not because they’re gay, but because they were causing a “disturbance.”
The story ends with this red flag of a double standard: “Two weeks ago they had a heterosexual couple doing the same thing and [Griffin] asked them to calm down. They did, and they were allowed to stay.”
Somehow we doubt the straight threshold for making Griffin and her regulars uncomfortable is equal to the gay one.
Speaking with the Fayetteville Observer, Griffin said: “I tried to be as nice as I could. This is a straight bar. I don’t mind who comes in — white, black, mixed, Chinese. Everybody’s welcome. But you have to respect the kind of place you’re in.”
Here’s a sampling of some of our favorites from Louie’s Yelp page:
