US: Walmart caretaker fired for telling gay couple to leave store

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A Walmart caretaker in Oklahoma was fired recently after he allegedly told a gay couple they were not allowed in his store.

THV11 reports Jonathan Pacheco and his partner were confronted by the store caretaker when they visited a Walmart in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

Mr Pacheco said: “We weren’t holding hands. We weren’t kissing. We weren’t doing anything inappropriately.

“We were looking at cookies, and he asked me, ‘Do you know what happened in Anadarko?’ I was like, ‘No. What happened in Anadarko?’ ‘Well, two guys got married.’ And I said, ‘Cool.’ And he said, ‘No. Not in my Bible. In my Bible it’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve.'”

The couple then left Walmart after reporting the incident to the worker’s manager.

Mr Pacheco added: “I was upset. I was just angry at the whole situation. Out of everywhere that we shop in Chickasha, Walmart is the first place that we can’t go now because we’re gay.”

Walmart said it launching an investigation into the incident and will take appropriate action. A spokeswoman called it “completely unacceptable” and said ” the associate involved is no longer with the company.”

The American Civil Liberties Union commented this incident comes just as a bill banning workplace discrimination against LGBT Americans was passed in the US Senate.

In August, Walmart announced that it is to offer health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners beginning next year.

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