Bar Apologizes to Transgender Woman for Refusing to Serve Her

The owner of a bar in St. Petersburg, Fla., has apologized to a transgender woman for refusing to serve her free drinks, the Daily Mail reports.

A bouncer at the Bishop Tavern and Lounge invited Alex Borrego and her friend to the establishment's ladies night event. After having a few drinks, another bouncer said, "You're dudes," and that they could not participate in ladies night.

Borrego was born a male but after going through two years of hormone treatment as well as other measures, she is now legally a woman. She even showed the bouncer her driver's license, which lists her as a female, but he still prohibited her from participating in ladies night.

"Legally, I'm a woman," Borrego said. "And to deny me to participate in ladies night, that's very disrespectful."

The next day a Facebook page asking people to boycott the bar was created and more than 250 Facebookers joined the group. That night owner Dean Marshiack apologized to Borrego and her friend, who is a drag queen.

"This event has given us the opportunity to better educate our staff to ensure everyone has a pleasant experience regardless of who you are," the Bishop Tavern and Lounge Facebook account wrote. "A co-owner of Bishop has had thorough conversations with two of those involved. We are all pleased with the awareness provided and the results of these dialogues." At the end of the post, the bar included a YouTube video for "transgender etiquette."

The owner said that he will talk to his staff to make sure that transgender people are treated with respect. Borrego, however, said that she still will not return to the bar based on "principle."

In a similar incident, a Phoenix, Ariz., restaurant apologized to a lesbian couple for kicking them out after hugging and kissing each other during their anniversary dinner.

The manager told the couple that they were making other customers uncomfortable because of their "inappropriate behavior" and asked them to leave. The couple created a Facebook page about the incident and received an overwhelming amount of support. Eventually, the representative of the hotel where the restaurant is located apologized to the women and ask them to come back for free drinks.

Watch the video for "transgender etiquette," which appeared in the Facebook comment, below: