December 4, 2014
'Stop What You're Doing,' Says London Restaurant to Couple
Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A lesbian couple is outraged this week over shoddy and homophobic treatment at a London restaurant.
The UK Independent reports 29-year-old Lydia Cawson was having dinner at a Southbank's Canteen restaurant when her girlfriend became upset after a stressful week. Cawson said she was consoling her and gave her a "light peck on the lips" when a staff member reprimanded them.
The employee allegedly said, "stop what you are doing please, this is a family restaurant."
"It was just a simple loving reaction. We were really shocked by this challenge because we didn't feel like we were being overly affectionate," explained Cawson. "I didn't notice any adverse reaction in the restaurant myself."
Her partner then challenged the member of staff, asking: "Is it a family restaurant or is it a homophobic restaurant?" said Cawson.
The staff member denied the claim but gestured for the pair to sit apart from one another.
"The second comment was that it was a family restaurant and it made me feel; 'why does that matter? Is it because children are present -- not that there were any children present at that time -- anyway, why should it matter if it is a family restaurant?'" Cawson told London Live.
The pair said they paid their bill but were left feeling "incredibly angry" about the incident. They have since said they felt unsure about whether they could be seen showing affection in public.
The restaurant, which has now apologized for any "issues" arising from the incident, and said it would investigate what happened, with a spokesperson releasing a statement.
A spokesperson for the restaurant told the Evening Standard, "We have been already being in touch with the two guests that raised a complaint following their visit last week trying to get further details of the visit. We have apologized to them for any issues that this may have caused them and we have started a full investigation into these allegations."
"At Canteen we train all of our staff and managers in Equal Rights and opportunities no matter the race, religion or sexual orientation," they continued. "We are very surprised and shocked to learn about this issue, which we have never encountered before. Nonetheless this has been taken extremely seriously and a full investigation has been launched to find out what happened."
Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
