Dee’s is a Pittsburgh Southside establishment that describes itself this way:

Our goal is to maintain a commitment to this community as the premiere pool venue in town. We have four championship Brunswick Gold Crown III pool tables to compliment our three current tables for our customers’ enjoyment. We have a full bar with modest drink prices, and will continue to serve the best quality products with the consumer in mind.

But it seems that by “consumer” they mean “straight consumer.” Gays are not welcomed there. Or so it would seem based upon emails being spread throughout the Pittsburgh Lesbian and Gay community. Note: I am not including actual names (where I have them) until I can confirm this report.

Tonight, I was at Dees Café in the South Side.  I was with two friends who are gay (so am I) and were kissing.  At some point I went up for a drink and was denied service.  The bartender, a white woman in her forties, told me that she wouldn’t serve me because my friends were behaving in ways there were not accepted in the bar.  Even though I already knew what she was about, I played dumb.  When I asked what she was talking about, she said that two women kissing is not ok.  I then asked her why I, someone who was not engaged in “homosexual activity,” was being denied service.  She fell back on her bartender status and said, “I don’t know where you came from before you got here, and I don’t  know how many you’ve had to drink.”  At that point she called over the bouncer (who by the way was much more condoning than she was and was pretty reluctant to take sides).  When I pointed out that she didn’t know that information about any of her customers (not to mention the fact that we had been there for a couple hours by now and I had had two drinks), and was she simply denying me service because I keep company with gay people, she said she wouldn’t serve the entire group of people associated with “their behavior.”  I didn’t out myself as gay to her (though maybe she could have assumed or suspected) because I wanted her to admit in so many words her own homophobia without me saying it first.  And she did.   She said that she didn’t like what “they” were doing and she wouldn’t encourage us to stay there.  At that point I told her that she was a homophobe and had no justification for denying service to us except for the fact that she didn’t condone homosexuality.   And worse, her denial of service to me was not only rationalized by “homosexual acts” but by the idea that it is unacceptable to even associate with queers.  Of course the rest of the conversation was anything but rational since she couldn’t get beyond her own hate/ignorance, and we just left the bar.

The email I received was sent at 1:40 AM, and I read it at 5:30 AM.

If anything like this happens to you within the City of Pittsburgh or within Allegheny County, it is essential to report it to the Human Relations Commission. Details on how to do that at the end of this post. This is a violation of both a City and a County ordinance, and these commissions will follow through with an investigation and action against the establishment.

I replied to the email suggesting that they file a formal complaint. I then went to Dee’s website where they have a “email us” form. I sent an email with these questions for the bar owner and/or manager

Last evening, I received an email that described the way several female customers were denied service by a bartender because two of the women were seen kissing. I write a blog and am interested in writing a post about this, and I’m now, collecting information. I’m wondering if the owner or manager would like to comment.

• Does the bar dislike having any gay or lesbian customers, and do you actively work to make gays and lesbians unwelcome?
• Do you have a policy manual which covers discrimination, or offer your employees any training  about sexual orientation?
• Does the bar regularly refuse to serve straight customers because of public displays of affection?
• The individual who was refused service was not one of the women who was kissing. Is it fair or your standard business practice to deny service because of association?
• The bartender first made clear to the customer that 2 women kissing was not OK, and then claimed that the denial of service was about not knowing enough about the sobriety level of the customer requesting service. Is that a common practice- to use laws and LCB based on personal prejudice about women kissing?
• I understand that the bouncer was unwilling to “take sides” and was not condemning of  the lesbian customers. This suggests to me that your business doesn’t as policy discriminate. I’m interested in any comments or opinions the owner or manager may want to make. Thomas Waters 412-400-8777

I haven’t yet received any reply from the bar owner or manager.

If you have ever experienced discrimination at this establishment or any other for that matter, please contact me. I’ll post more about this story if I learn anything else.

Pittsburgh’s Commission on Human Relations

I could not find information on the County HRC to post here.