A gay couple visiting Orocovis, Puerto Rico were stunned when they were kicked out of a restaurant after one of the men began dancing with a straight male friend of the family. The couple, Trey May and Luis Santiago Rivera posted videos to social media shot during the incident at Gyros Orocovis.
Said May in a video posted to social media: “So this place is very homophobic. Just got kicked out for dancing with someone who wasn’t even my boyfriend. So if you’re ever in this area in Puerto Rico, please, do not go. These people are very homophobic.”
CBS This Morning reporter David Begnaud posted about the incident on Twitter after talking to the couple and the restaurant.
Wrote Begnaud: “I reached out to Gyros, via Facebook, to ask if the patrons’ account is true. They responded: ‘Greetings, everything was a misunderstanding, nobody threw them away, they were only asked to go outside since they had also lit an electronic cigarette, those who quickly……get frustrated are you and quickly defame what is not. That’s all I say, I just ask you not to continue commenting on something that is not real. Goodnight.'”
Begnaud added: “Luis Santiago-Rivera confirms that someone in their group was using an e-cigarette, but says they had been at the bar for more than an hour, when they were told to stop dancing, and that no one ever told them to go outside or leave for using an e-cigarette. Luis Santiago-Rivera alleges homophobic slurs were directed at them by the employee who told them to stop dancing. About the incident, the gay couple tells me they were embarrassed in front of their family, who was with them at the bar. They left feeling discriminated against and humiliated.”
The restaurant published an apology on its Facebook page.
It wrote: “To all our customers, LGBT community and customers affected
Our intention has never been the offending of any person. All customers who have had the opportunity to visit us know first hand how is the deal we give day by day. We apologize greatly to the customers affected today and we express that we are open to dialogue with them in specific. Our intention is to give a good service to all alike. To the whole community, we had never had misunderstandings with any member. The doors are open to receive and treat them as we all deserve. If they give us the opportunity we will prove it. To the boys who felt offended apologies. If you communicate with us we can give them personally.”
