After an innocent peck on the lips, a couple was harassed and forced to leave an Oklahoma City bar last night. Lola Lemmon and her girlfriend Jennifer Skiba had a few brief moments to enjoy their time before a group of people gathered around them demanding that they leave.
The Porthole, who has a history of being gay friendly and whose owners display support for the gay community, gives its most sincere apologies.
The man who kicked them out while claiming the title of manager was not an employee but a lifelong friend of owner John Ross.
“I walked up to Jen and she turned to me and pecked me,” Lemmon told The Gayly. “This man came up to me and said, ‘You guys need to leave. You’re not welcome here. Your kind are not welcome here."
Lemmon and Skiba stood shocked while two women behind him announced that the man was a manager. “You have to listen to him. He’s a manager. You have to leave,” they chanted.
So they were forced out, along with their friend Amy Stinnett, who still had a tab open.
“Amy had to go get her card. And when we got in, they were waiting at the door to make sure we didn’t come back inside. That man literally waited at the door to make sure we did not come back in.
“I’ve lived in Oklahoma City for two years and since I’ve been ‘out’ I’ve never experienced anything like this at all. My girlfriend has never experienced this in her life, so she is heartbroken. Watching someone you love so much be so heartbroken, it’s hard,” Lemmon confesses.
Ross, the owner of Porthole, says this is the “most embarrassing thing that’s happened to me, my wife or my company.”
Stating that this whole thing has been “blown out of proportion,” Ross told The Gayly that he truly understands.
“Somebody stuck their nose in the middle of something they didn’t belong. And I truly apologize. I chastised him something fierce today. ‘Do not ever throw someone out again.’”
When asked who the strange man was who initiated the incident, Ross said he hated to admit that he’s a lifelong friend.
“He had no business opening his mouth and I truly apologize for it. Had I been there, it would never have happened. Unfortunately, occasionally I’m not there. And I can’t control everything that goes on in that bar by somebody else the whole time.”
Ross and his wife have many connections to the gay community, and have always been willing to accept LGBT business.
“I’m truly sorry that happened. If they [Lemmon and Skiba] want to have an attitude at me, I understand. But it wouldn’t have happened had I been there.”
The man who claimed to be manager was not, in fact, employed by the company at all, and Ross also offered the apologies of the bartender, who was evidently very frustrated by the incident.
Meanwhile, Lemmon and Skiba are for the first time trying to cope with their own experience with bigotry. The love Skiba displayed by kissing her girlfriend was innocent and was never meant to provoke anger.
“We’re human beings. We feel treated like less than humans for being innocent and just being a couple,” Lemmon said. “We weren’t drunk, we weren’t making a scene; we were actually about to order our drinks.
“But no, it was our sheer presence that was so uncomfortable that they forced us to leave. I’m mind-blown.” Lemmon admitted she cried throughout the night.
“I want to expose this bigotry at its core. It’s sad we live in a state where discrimination is so prevalent. I’m just hoping this is a good opportunity to bring it to light, and to bring more positive things for our community.
"I won't be ashamed of love, and I won't be quiet about hate."
