Two men in North Yorkshire were accidentally handed a receipt that described the two as ‘Gay Guys’.
A pub in North Yorkshire has had to apologise to Al Butler, 26, and a old school friend who were handed a receipt that described the two as ‘Gay Guys’ on stools – to indicate where the men were sitting, even though the two are straight.
Judson’s Bar has apologised ‘unreservedly’ to the two men and the waitress who wrote the receipt has been ‘disciplined’.
The two men went to Judson’s Bar for lunch. It was only after the food had been delivered that Mr Butler’s friend noticed the note.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr. Butler said:
‘My friend spotted it first and said, “I think the manager’s misconstrued our lunch”
‘I obviously thought it was inappropriate. It took a while for it sink in. It was not insulting, it was just a shock.
‘I was surprised. I would not expect it anywhere else. It’s as equally unacceptable as racism.
‘It’s not a bad thing to be called gay – although I’m not and neither is my friend – but I think it’s prejudiced. It’s jumping to a conclusion without the need to do so.’
The bar’s owner Peter Ward told The Press, Yorkshire,
‘We have apologised unreservedly. While it was completely wrong, I don’t feel it was prejudiced.
‘It was completely unprofessional and it is not what our business is about.‘We understand why the two gentlemen concerned were offended and we have apologised to them unreservedly.
‘We have also disciplined the waitress concerned and put in place a procedure so it will not happen again. I would add that everyone is welcome at Judson’s.’
A spokesperson from Stonewall said,
‘Incidents like this highlight the importance of staff training. Identifying customers by their perceived sexual orientation is unnecessary and could cause offence. It’s right that the bar should apologise to the customers for this inappropriate behaviour.’
