Dallas gay bar to ban drag queens on “Trashy Tuesday”

by Ben Briscoe of of Dallas Voice

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.

“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 draq queens under control then. I don’t want draq queens in here that are going to misbehave.”

That’s why starting Tuesday, July 15 Moore and his employees began asking transgender women and draq 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 draq 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.”

At first, Tramp and Nunez said, they were embarrassed.

“It’s kind of like I’m a positive role model in the community,” Tramp said. “It wasn’t like I was there hammered or begging people to buy me a drink. I felt like it was very embarrassing and degrading.”

But then they got angry.

“I’ve never been barred from anywhere, and that not only upset me, but it pissed me off really bad,” Nunez said.

The group left the bar without causing a scene, but they are still confused as to why they were thrown out since they personally were not misbehaving.

“How do I separate one draq 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.”

Zippers is a block down from Crews Inn, and Zippers manager John Miles says he has never seen problems with the transgender community.

“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.”

Nunez and Tramp are consulting attorneys about the legality of the ban. They plan to take legal action if they can.

“I’m not sure if it is legal or not, but if they are acting stupid I have that right under TABC [Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission],” Moore said. “As a bar owner, we have the right to refuse service to anyone.”

Miles said he’s not so sure.

“It is discrimination, but legally they do have the right to refuse service,” Miles said. “But by saying draq queens or transgender or whatever that opens up a whole other can of worms that a lawyer should look at.”

Dallas has an anti-discrimination ordinance that bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Both sexual orientation and gender identity are covered by the ordinance, which carries a maximum fine of $500 per violation.

Rob Wiley, one local attorney who handles discrimination cases, said discrimination based on gender is also prohibited under federal and state law.

When Moore was made aware of the city’s ordinance, he said both the Dallas Police Department and TABC would be on his side because costumers’ appearance must match their picture ID.

“We bend the rules a lot of times for draq queens,” Moore said. “We shouldn’t, but we do. Well now we just aren’t doing that anymore on Tuesday nights.”

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.

Moore said he has nothing against drag, just the alleged behavior.

“If I did, several of my employees would not be working here because they are draq queens, too,” he said.

Sierra Nicole Standridge, who performs as Sierra Nicole Andrews, was kicked out of Crews Inn three years ago, said she isn’t buying Moore’s explanation.

“His excuse for kicking me out was that he thought I was someone who apparently threw a bottle at an employee, but I would never ever. That is not my style. You know there are a few bad apples out there, but not all of us are bad, and he should not treat us that way.”

Three years ago, Standridge didn’t end up doing anything about being kicked out for being a transgender woman. But this time is different.

“It’s sad to me, because this is not Stonewall or the ’70s anymore. It’s sad that he is trying to exile transgender people out of his club. Well, like I told Ivana, if I have to picket, I will. We are going to exile him out of the gay community.”

Standridge, Tramp and Nunez are planning a protest of Crew’s Inn on Tuesday night, July 22.

“I don’t want anyone to break any laws or anything like that,” Tramp said. “We just want those supporting us to show up at 10 p.m. so that David will know how big a part of the community we are. And so he’ll know that by them shunning us, he faces all of us and our supporters shunning him too.”

They think it could make a big difference.

“We don’t need our own kind turning against each other saying you can’t come in here because you are transgender,” Standridge said. “It makes us feel like a circus freak, like we don’t fit in, and that makes me so sad.”

The group is expecting 50 to 100 performers and fans to show up.

“They ain’t going to get in. I can tell you that right now. Bring them on,” Moore said. “It makes them look that much more immature to claim this is discrimination and plan this. They brought this on themselves by behaving the way they do.”

Moore said he’s hoping for a less dramatic conclusion.

“I’m willing to work with them,” he said. “If they would sit down and say they are going to keep each other accountable internally in their community, then there would be no reason for keeping them out on Tuesdays,” he said.

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