From the July 18, 2008 Dallas Voice:
Gay bar bans drag queens on ‘Trashy Tuesday’
Fueled by cheap drink prices and nearly naked, toned men dancing for tips, Tuesday night bar-hopping on Fitzhugh Avenue is becoming a staple in the Dallas LGBT community. So much so that locals have even given the event a nickname — “Trashy Tuesday.”
But Crews Inn co-owner David Moore says he plans to remove the “T” — for transgender, that is — from the clientele at his Fitzhugh Avenue bar on Tuesday nights.
Moore has banned drag queens-and any transperson whose appearance does not match their photo ID-from Crews Inn. The reason?
“Drag queens act like they are divas and think they can’t do no wrong,” Moore said. “They have stolen money straight off the bar, hassled costumers for drinks and locked themselves in the bathroom with a bunch of guys. And with Tuesday being our busiest night, there is just no way for me to keep the drag queens under control then. I don’t want drag queens in here that are going to misbehave.”
So his solution?
That’s why starting Tuesday, July 15 Moore and his employees began asking transgender women and drag queens to leave. Local drag performers Ivana Tramp and Celeste Williams — who now goes by Emelisa Nunez — said they and a friend were told to go when a bartender, and former drag queen himself, came over and said, “I’m sorry, but the owner is in one of his moods, and he doesn’t want this.”
“I was like, ‘What do you mean? What are you saying?’” Tramp said. “And he goes, ‘David says he doesn’t want this’ — making a hand gesture at us — ‘in this bar, trannies, drag queens or girls.”
Moore “doesn’t want this” in his bar. Trannies, drag queens, or girls. And his logic defending his position?
“How do I separate one drag queen that is being bad from others?” Moore said. “We don’t have the time on Tuesday nights with all the people in here to sit there and tell them apart from one another. If a drag queen misbehaves one week and then the next comes back in a different outfit I wouldn’t be able to recognize them. That’s why I don’t want any of them in here on Tuesdays.”
Right…
Now, go a block down the street to Zippers, and ask them if they’ve had problems with drag queens:
“I have not noticed any difference in the behavior of drag queens from our other customers,” he said. “They behave themselves very well and do not cause problems. They will always be welcomed at Zippers.”
Miller says he’s not biased against drag queens:
“If I did (have a bias), several of my employees would not be working here because they are drag queens, too,” he said.
But if they showed up at the door in drag, you’d refuse to let them in, right?
According to the Dallas Tavern Guild’s spokesperson, what Moore is doing is acceptable:
Michael Doughman, executive director of the Dallas Tavern Guild, said as long as Moore is keeping them out because of behavior issues, “he has every right to run his business the way he wants to.” Crew’s Inn is a member of the Tavern Guild, a local association of gay bars.
“I’ve never know David to be prejudiced toward any group of people, so I can’t imagine that it is just because they are guys in drag,” Doughman said.
Even though Moore says he is banning all transpeople-not specific persons.
Oh, and if you’re a transsexual, crossdresser, transgendered, or genderqueer and think this is not your problem-it is. Because if your ID doesn’t match your presentation, you can’t go into Crews Inn. And if Moore can justify not allowing people in for their appearance, then what stops another bar owner from doing the same? And to say “all drag queens are bad,” how far is it to say “all transpeople are bad?”
Maybe I just think this is more important than it is…