Restaurant Owner Who Booted Sanders Says Gay Employees Too Triggered by WH Press Secretary

The owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia says that she booted White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders because her gay employees were triggered over the Trump administration’s transgender military ban, according to an interview she gave to the Washington Post.

In a nutshell, Sanders was joining a party of eight booked under her husband’s name. The owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, was at home when her chef called to let her know that the staff was highly offended at Sanders’ presence: 

Sarah Huckabee Sanders had just walked in and sat down, the chef informed her.

“He said the staff is a little concerned. What should we do?” Wilkinson told The Washington Post. “I said I’d be down to see if it’s true.”

…

“Tell me what you want me to do. I can ask her to leave,” Wilkinson told her staff, she said. “They said yes.”

…

Several Red Hen employees were gay, she said. They knew Sanders had defended Trump’s desire to bar transgender people from the military. This month, they had all watched her evade questions and defend a Trump policy that caused migrant children to be separated from their parents.

At the end of the night, staff members wrote on their employee whiteboard “86 Sara Huckabee Sanders” – a code for throwing someone out of an establishment. One of the servers photographed the whiteboard and posted it to his public Facebook wall. 

.@PressSec got kicked out of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va tonight. Apparently the owner didn’t want to serve her and her party out of moral conviction. pic.twitter.com/jr3bfiY3XY

— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) June 23, 2018

After the story went viral, Sanders posted to Twitter: “Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so“

Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 23, 2018

People are already comparing the incident to the Christian bakery who was recently granted the right to refuse service to a gay couple over their religious beliefs. Liberals have suggested that conservatives have no right to have a problem with Sanders’ ejection, while conservatives are noting that liberals who had been fighting against exclusionary business practices are suddenly OK with Sanders being excluded. 

If a shop owner refuses to bake a cake for an LGBT wedding it should be illegal….

But if the Red Hen refuses to serve a conservative, it’s honorable?

Can someone explain this to me? #MAGA

— Daniel Bostic (@debostic) June 23, 2018

Red Hen has the legal right to refuse anyone service

In this case, many believe they were wrong to discriminate due to political beliefs

These can both be true

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) June 23, 2018

Either way, the Red Hen now gets to deal with the fallout over a few offended employees who couldn’t put their personal feelings aside to do their job. 

From 4.5 stars to 2.5 stars in a matter of hours

Don’t mess with @PressSec pic.twitter.com/xJfXkXXsqO

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) June 23, 2018

Last night, @PressSec was kicked out a VA restaurant because of her work for @realDonaldTrump and the conservative beliefs she holds.

If she were black, gay, or Muslim and liberal, the Left would be rushing to her aid. They only care about “bigotry” when convenient. #MAGA pic.twitter.com/EgjZYkQsrN

— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) June 23, 2018

I’m not endorsing this, but people are now making dinner reservations at Red Hen and not showing up as a form of no-show protest in support of Sarah

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) June 23, 2018