Woman says she was kicked out of Coyote Ugly bar for being gay, ‘dressing like a man’
A woman has said she was kicked out of a Coyote Ugly bar for being gay.
The tourist, Cat Mahan, travelled to the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Nashville as part of a road trip from Mississippi to Nashville.
She told FOX13 that the manager told her she wasn’t allowed to dance on the bar, but that other patrons had been friendly.
“He looked me up and down, the way I was dressed, the way my demeanor is, and he said, ‘No, you cannot get on the bar,” Mahan said.
Going on she said: “He proceeded to kick me out, because I was screaming that he’s homophobic across his bar.
“Then, when he got me outside, he told me that if I’m dressed like a man, I’m going to be treated like a man.”
The founder and CEO of the Coyote Ugly chain Liliana Lovell has responded to the allegations with various Facebook posts.
She wrote: “I am literally hysterical laughing thinking, half the bartenders were probably gay that were working that night…
“Instead of blaming your behavior on us why not say ‘I am sorry, I wasn’t being cognizant about the rules of the bar.’ That’s it. No big deal. But no, now we will have to deal with this ridiculousness.”
In a statement sent to FOX13, Lovell added: “Coyote Ugly has long-standing, well-established rules of decorum that are strictly enforced at all of our bars worldwide to ensure everyone’s safety.
“The policy states that there will be no physical contact of any kind of any person while on the bar from a patron on the ground.”
“This policy is for any person and has no differentiation for people of varying gender, relationship, race, sexuality or any other perceived or real defining classification,” Lovell continued.
Mahan has said she wants the specific manager on duty to be sacked.
“I hope and I pray that this is going to be the last time that you do something like this,” Mahan says. She said she thinks others will have been treated the same.
“I want you yourself to open up your heart and love everyone just like I do.”
Mahan responded on Facebook, saying: “Of course I was upset… Your manager told me if I was dressed like a man he was going to treat me like a man and then acted like he was going to fight me in front of your bar! You have got to be kidding me!”
The manager has not yet responded to the allegations.
