When you go to the Whiskey River in Corpus Christi, you go for the music, the good times and the cheap drinks.
You don't go for the hate. But that is just what Bobby Rodriguez found when he tried to enter the local hot spot and a security guard refused to let him in because of the way he looked.Mr. Rodriguez had gone to the club with a few friends but was told that he would not be allowed to enter unless he wiped off his makeup because the bar had a
"gender-specific" dress code "where men need to dress like men."Bobby believes that because he was only wearing makeup and not female clothing, the bar's policy was overtly discriminatory towards him. But even if he were wearing a traditionally female outfit, would that have given the bar the right to deny him entry?
Whiskey River has since come out defending their policy that all patrons must dress according to the gender specified on their government I.D. This is because they want to protect their customers from being attacked by bigots that might frequent the bar.
So in their twisted logic, they have decided to protect people from bigotry by being bigots themselves. The policy is wrong-headed in the first place, but if you consider that for many trans people changing your gender on a government ID can be extremely expensive and daunting. In Texas, you even have to get a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. So for a trans person, this policy is even more detrimental.
One thing is for security to ask a young man to remove his make up. Another is asking a trans person to remove their entire identity. This policy is gross, homophobic and anti-trans. Ask Whiskey River to come off the sauce for a bit and come to their senses. Sign the petition and ask them to drop their discriminatory policy.Photo credit: Facebook