The Chatterbox is a well-respected jazz bar in the city of Indianapolis, and certainly no stranger to unruly clientele. But recently, one ill-meaning patron took things to the next level.
Related
“I’m not giving anyone that space in my mind,” Wilson said of her father. “The only thing that gets to live free in my mind are drag queens.”
Last Friday, some Trump supporters visited the bar and began harassing and intentionally misgendering staff. At that point, they were asked to leave, which they responded to by continuing to threaten and verbally assault the bar’s staff and patrons.
Culture, unfiltered
Our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.
Normally if you get kicked out of a bar that’s it, you just go home in shame. But like any non-self-respecting, MAGA-cap-wearing citizen, one of the Trumpers involved, Elise Hensley, decided to return and record her interaction in hopes of publicizing it and playing into her persecution complex.
The bartender (and owner) acted very appropriately given the situation, making their case plain. Usually, if a bartender tells you to get out their bar you get out of their f**king bar. Bartenders have every right to make reasonable judgment calls and may refuse service to anyone. It became clear after Hensley refused to leave that things were not going to come to a quiet resolution.
Historically, LGBTQ+ establishments couldn’t rely on law enforcement and it was usually on the house to settle matters themselves, using DIY tools of persuasion like keeping a baseball bat behind the bar. After one bartender brought out the bat to show Hensley they needed her to leave pronto, another staff worker intervened and informed Hensley that she could either leave on her own accord or have the cops called to drag her out.
Hensley then had the audacity to say in front of LGBTQ+ staff and patrons “You know this is discrimination right”? to which everyone in the bar burst out pointing and laughing at her “Oh boo hoo!” the bartender exclaimed. Hensley later on local news to tell her side of the story.
“I have lots of gay friends, I have lots of trans friends,” she said, a statement that absolutely rings of pure truth and fact whenever gay people hear it. “For anyone to assume that I do not like those types of people is absolutely insane. — Even though I’m a Trump supporter I absolutely love LGBTQ+ community”
Which begs the question: do these people realize Trump has made a large portion of his re-election campaign attacking transgender people, along with the majority of his presidential actions attacking the trans community? I don’t think it’s insane for people to assume you hate trans people because you’re wearing a MAGA hat.
I myself don’t like Trump supporters for the reason that I am a trans woman. Why would I be accepting towards someone who supports a cause that wants to repeal my human rights?
Hopefully this is the end of Hensley’s story…unless one of those alleged “gay friends” she talked about wants to come forward with more tea?
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
