Lesbian couple: Restaurant ousted us for kissing

Downtown Phoenix’s District American Kitchen & Wine Bar was bombarded with comments from outraged social-media users Monday after reportedly having asked a lesbian couple dining there Sunday to leave after they hugged and kissed.

The couple was celebrating an anniversary at the restaurant, located inside the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel off Third and Van Buren streets, according to a Facebook posting by one of the women. That post spurred the subsequent outcry on the social-networking site, and angry comments were still being left on the District’s page late Monday.

Though Sheraton spokeswoman Katie Brashear would not confirm the details surrounding the incident, citing privacy concerns, she provided a statement that said the District “embrace(s) diversity” and proudly supports the gay community.

“We are taking this incident very seriously,” the statement said. “Our restaurant is open for all to enjoy and we regret that this incident took place.”

Brashear said the hotel’s general manager would be available for comment Tuesday.

State LGBT civil-rights organization Equality Arizona had attempted to act as a go-between for the women and Sheraton management during much of the day Monday, according to Equality Executive Director Nick Ray.

“(The Sheraton) does a lot with the LGBT community, but just because things on the macro level are great doesn’t mean everything on the micro level is,” Ray said.

“From my perspective, it’s not about us dictating what the solution should be. It’s about bringing the two parties together to help them have a better understanding of what happened and how it happened, so this type of incident doesn’t occur again.”

The women involved in the incident were not immediately available for comment.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2012/02/27/lesbian-couple-restaurant-ousted-us-for-kissing/