Gay Diners Claim Discrimination at Pittsburg Restaurant

PITTSBURG — There’s controversy in Pittsburg after a couple says they were told not to come back to a restaurant because they’re gay. Big Earl’s Restaurant is a local institution, so Collin Dewberry and his partner, Kelley, decided to have breakfast there. Dewberry says everything seemed to be going fine until they paid their check — and were approached by their waitress on the way out. According to Dewberry, “She said, ‘Here at Big Earl’s, we expect men to act like men and ladies to act like ladies, so I’m gonna have to ask that you never return.'”

The owner of Big Earl’s, Big Earl Cheney, says that while the waitress might have expressed her own opinion, the reason he didn’t want the couple back was because of what they were doing. Cheney says, “The one young man stretched his legs out — put ’em in the other one’s lap.” But Cheney maintains hes not a bigot. He adds, “Homosexuality, blacks, Hispanics, they all come in here. Everybody comes in here to eat.”