Other patrons witness the discrimination
When a couple at a restaurant openly discriminates against their lesbian waitress, other patrons decide they’re not having it.
This is exactly the scenario a recent episode of ABC’s What Would You Do? series posed.
Inspired by a real-life event where a lesbian server received no tip due to her pride tattoo, the segment asks whether or not bystanders would intervene.
Both the couple discriminating and the waitress are played by actors. For the waitress, it’s an especially personal role given she’s a lesbian and married in real life.
The show runs the interaction numerous times with different patrons seated nearby.
When the couple compliments the waitress on her wedding ring and asks about a husband, she politely corrects them and says she’s married to a woman. That’s when they start berating her and telling her they won’t be tipping.
So… what did the bystanders do?
Fortunately, most of the real-life people, totally unaware they’re being filmed, stand up for the woman.
Some openly confront the couple, telling them they’re being rude and disrespectful.
‘You don’t need to be having this conversation with her right now,’ one woman says. ‘What she chooses to do with her life is her life… and you’re being very rude.’
Other customers reassure the waitress, saying they’ll give her a good tip.
One man comes to the defense of the couple when the waitress walks away. ‘Look at it this way, they can’t have any kids,’ he says. ‘Nature takes care of it all by itself. So, eventually they’ll wipe themselves out.’
The last segment’s patrons get particularly aggressive towards the couple. A man tells them as they leave: ‘You can get the hell outta here. You’re disgusting. I’ll drop you like a hot potato, you little shit.’
It’s not the first time the show has addressed LGBTQ discrimination. Previously, they did an episode about a trans women facing harassment while clothes shopping.
