A lawsuit has been filed against the city of El Paso and a popular restaurant because of what the plaintiff calls a peck on the lips. The men that filed the lawsuit say they were discriminated against for their sexual orientation.
Carlos Enrique Diaz de Leon owns this flower shop in East El Paso. But lately his job description also includes 'activist.'
"I'm doing this for people's rights, for equality, for people that cant speak up," Diaz said.
The incident happened at a Chico's Tacos on Montwood Avenue. Diaz and his friends were eating dinner when two male members of the group kissed.
"A peck on the lips," Diaz said. "No making out, just a peck on the lips"
Diaz said a security guard approached them and, in Spanish, told them to stop or they would have to leave. Diaz decided to call police and said when an officer arrived, he wouldn't hear Diaz's side of the story.
"For those actions they would be given a citation for homosexual activity," Diaz said.
"There was no other reason for the restaurant to throw them out and they were treated very differently than for example a heterosexual couple would have been," said Christopher Benoit, an attorney for Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, the firm representing Diaz. He said a city ordinance was breached that says people can't be denied service based on sexual orientation.
"It's a case about suing the city and the police department for not enforcing that ordinance," Benoit said.
The lawsuit was filed exactly one year after the incident. We tried to contact the defendants but nobody wanted to go on camera. The owner of Chico's Tacos has said in the past that the men were being unruly and that's why they were approached. The city of El Paso said they can't comment because they have not yet been served with the lawsuit. But one defendant, Bradford All-American International Security, said there was no discrimination and the men were still able to eat their food; Diaz disagrees.
“We were humiliated, embarrassed, belittled,” Diaz said.
Diaz says he's received death threats at his business. He also says sales have decreased since speaking out about the incident.
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