The chairwoman of
the Scottsdale, Ariz., Human Relations Commission has
called out a local establishment over its ban on transgender
bar patrons, according to the Associated Press. Michele
deLaFreniere has filed a discrimination complaint with
the Arizona attorney general's office against
Anderson's Fifth Estate nightclub.
DeLaFreniere, who
has lived as a woman since 2004, told the AP that owner
Tom Anderson rudely blocked her and a friend from entering
the club last November. "He grabbed
the money from my hand and said, 'I
don't want your business or your kind
here,'" she told the AP. "That, to
me, is discrimination."
Anderson admitted to barring transgender people
from the club, citing his liability for customer
safety. He
claimed it was the "best solution,"
after transgender patrons were harassed in the men's
restroom and female customers objected to having
"men in dresses" using the
women's restroom.
"There was
no place I could put these people," Anderson told the
AP.
Anderson also
denied telling DeLaFreniere that "her kind"
were not welcome in his club. "That's a
dramatization she wants to make to further her cause.
I don't use that kind of language," he said.
"I don't have a problem with
[transgender people]. If that's the way your life is
going, so be it. It doesn't bother me in the slightest."
Anderson said he will continue to defend his
actions. His customers, he said, "felt
totally threatened. I believe I made the right move to
protect the women that frequent this club." (The
Advocate)
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