I don’t care if you’re a “dude” or a “gal,” some things are just plain inappropriate.
Tyler Grant, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, “identifies as gender queer.” Grant, dressed in drag, was recently asked to leave the local Whataburger restaurant for being indecently dressed.
Grant says it wasn’t because of what he was wearing, but because the officer was transphobic. He goes on to say that his outfit “was no more revealing than yoga pants and a tank top.” I beg to differ.
Let’s start with Exhibit A, provided to USAToday by Grant, the outfit deemed inappropriate by Whataburger:
And Exhibit B, a woman wearing yoga pants and a tank top (credit Benji Ordonez):
Yes, Tyler, there’s a BIG difference! Your outfit was not an “outfit,” it was lingerie (that means UNDERGARMENTS!) And it was significantly more revealing than a yoga outfit (which, by the way, is NOT undergarments.)
Dressing in “drag” typically means wearing “clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender.” It doesn’t specify the type of clothing or what’s acceptable in public. What you wore that night is not acceptable for women to wear in public. Why would you think it’d be any different for you? Typically, women who dress like that in public are either prostitutes or mentally ill!
What you were wearing may be acceptable in some of the circles you travel in, and it may be ok in a drag show as part of a performance, but that doesn’t make it acceptable in mainstream society.
Don’t cry foul and assume that any criticism of your attire is because your gender identity or transphobia. It may just be because of your bad judgement in clothing. That is, of course, your choice. But it’s also a restaurant’s choice to set the acceptable dress code in their establishment. Last I checked, “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” was still legal… for now.
H/T USAToday
