University of Texas student: Whataburger denied me entry for wearing women’s …
April 15, 2015 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
A University of Texas student who identifies as gender queer claims service was denied at a Whataburger location in Austin early Saturday morning because the student was wearing women’s clothing.
Video footage posted to Twitter shows a restaurant manager telling Tyler Grant, a public health junior at the University of Texas at Austin, that Grant could not enter the restaurant chain’s location near the UT campus. The footage only shows a portion of the encounter.
Grant — who prefers to be referred to through gender neutral pronouns such as “they,” “them” and “their” — told the San Antonio Express-News that the manager told Grant that their clothes were revealing and see-through. However, Grant believes the manager was discriminating based on gender identity.
“I really believe it was transphobia-driven and I don’t think it had anything to do with what I was wearing,” Grant said.
Austin’s nondiscrimination ordinance prevents restaurants and other public accommodations from discriminating against patrons based on gender identity.
Whataburger Corporate Communications insists the denial of service was based on revealing clothing, not the student’s gender identity.
“Whataburger is proud to serve all customers regardless of race, gender or orientation. This wasn’t an issue of gender but of appropriate attire as this guest was dressed in lingerie. Again, we welcome everyone into our restaurants but our customers’ experience is our top priority. We are reviewing these events with our team members and will take appropriate action if needed.”
The student maintains that their clothes were not see-through, saying that they were wearing “two inches of hip/butt pads, two pairs of dancers tights and three pairs of nude pantyhose.”
“If it were see-through, then she would have seen my brightly colored underwear,” Grant said in a Facebook post.
Grant, originally from Beaumont, told the Express-News that an off-duty Texas Department of Public Safety officer stopped the two outside of the restaurant’s entrance and told them to put shoes on because they had been walking barefoot.
Grant told the officer that they would comply while putting on their high heels.
“Wait, are you a dude?” the off-duty officer told them, according to Grant. The officer then fetched the female manager shown in the video.
The officer was working a secondary security job for the restaurant, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger told The Horn, a student-run newspaper at the university.
Grant had been to that location on several occasions without incident and said they would consult the university’s Legal Services for Students division for advice on possible legal action.
jfechter@mySA.com
Twitter: @JFreports
