A restaurant in Oklahoma City has been accused of being transphobic after posting an aggressive sign on its window.
The notice reads: “We do not have a transgender bathroom. So don’t be caught in the wrong one. Thank you. Bob.”
Bob Warner, the owner of Steak and Catfish Barn, has since defended the sign, saying he was only trying to protect transgender customers.
“We have a lot of redneck guys that come in here, truck drivers and everything,” Warner told News Channel 4.
“They’re big husky guys, and I said ‘Man alive! If their wife or their little girl walked in that bathroom and a man followed them in there, I wouldn’t have a restaurant’.”
LGBT+ advocates have spoken out against the restaurant, saying the sign is inciting violence against the trans community.
“You’ve got this sign implying a threat of potential violence against somebody for going to pee. That’s not the Oklahoma standard. That’s not what it means to be American. That’s just wrong,” said Troy Stevenson of LGBT+ rights group Freedom Oklahoma.
While the sign only came to the attention of LGBT+ activists recently, the sign has been tagged on Facebook before, for all the wrong reasons.
One Facebook user posted a photo of herself giving the sign a thumbs up in 2016 with the caption: "Great food. And Grate (sic) signs."
Another user posted a picture of the anti-transgender sign in 2016 writing, "Our kinda place plus great food."
The state of Oklahoma is currently considering Senate Bill 694—a bill that would mean that the protections in place for LGBT+ Oklahomans could be dismissed.
If passed, the law would go into effect on November 1st.
