A server at one downtown Saskatoon pub sent a strong message to her customers Tuesday night after she stopped serving a table of four for making remarks another patron said were homophobic.
“ ‘I'm really sorry, but after these drinks you guys are going to have to leave,’ ” Lindsay Ogresko, a server at Congress Beer House, recalled telling one group of customers. “ ‘I can’t serve you because I don't feel what you did was appropriate.’ ”
Dustin Seidler, who was out with friends at the pub, was walking to his table when he passed by a group of four men who he said directed a homophobic comment toward him.
“I went to use the washroom. On my way back I passed by a group of four guys, and one of them had made a homosexual remark," said Seidler.
He tried to brush off the remark, but after Ogresko heard about the comments she approached the table, calmly handed over the bill and asked the group to leave.
Blair Voth-Miller, a co-owner of Congress, said she’s proud of how her staff showed courage and professionalism in handling the situation.
"It doesn't matter if you’re black or white, or a woman or a man, or gay or straight. It’s not accepted to make others feel uncomfortable with inappropriate comments,” Voth-Miller said.
Seidler praised the pub for taking action.
“I just feel more people need to do that. More establishments need to do that,” said Seidler. “I just think the best thing we can do is educate people about the issues and hopefully people will eventually learn acceptance.”
