Discrimination charges filed against Portland bar
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Labor commission officials filed discrimination charges against Portland’s Twilight Room Annex following a lengthy investigation that revealed the bar discriminated against transgender patrons.
Commissioner Brad Avakian on Tuesday filed the formal charges against the bar, formerly known as the P Club.
The charges follow a highly publicized investigation that found bar owner Chris Penner had left phone messages asking a group of transgender patrons to stop visiting the bar because he didn’t want the P Club to be known as a “tranny bar.”
The charges were filed because the commission and bar did not reach a settlement, according to a press release from the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries.
Penner had contended the group, known as the Rose City T-Girls, disrupted business; however, labor investigators found no evidence to support that.
Investigators found Penner did not notify the group of any complaints about their behavior and, instead, blocked them from coming to the bar.
Oregon state law protects anyone from discrimination because of sexual orientation, but that's not just about sexual preference. It also covers gender identity.
The charges are the first commissioner’s complaint filed under the landmark 2007 Oregon Equality Act, a law to protect the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender Oregonians in employment, housing and public places.
Reached Tuesday afternoon by telephone, Penner declined comment to KATU.
If you look up the Oregon Equality Act and READ IT you will see that a place of business that is open to the public is forbidden to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. IF a person should feel that they have been subjected to discrimination in their place of employment OR in a place of public accommodation (aka a business open to the public) they are to file a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries HENCE the involvement of the Labor commissioner in this case.
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While you may disagree with the law, it is a business owner's responsibility to be aware of the laws that affect the way he or she conducts his or her business, and operate within those laws. This law was passed in 2007 by Oregon State Legislature in the House and in the Senate with a pretty large majority. It's not new news. Penner should have been aware of this law and aware of the possible consequences for violation.Â
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If you strongly disagree with the laws that your state legislature is passing or think they are unjust or unfair, get involved and be active in voicing your concern throughout your communities. And research before you cast your vote. Â
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So let me get this "straight"..a guy owns a bar, and he doesn't want it to become a "gay bar" or "tranny bar"..and so a group of gays or trannies can just come in and take over the place and tell this owner "Guess what? From now on your place is going to cater to our groups, and we'll be loud and obnoxious and we'll run off all of your other customers..and there's nothing you can do about it..tee hee hee."Â Yeah..that seems logical. Â
If Trannys need a drink,they should jump in the willamette river. Savor the flavor.
 @stormy Couldn't be any worse than flacid c***.Â
Too many P's in the P Club.Â
I see the problem from looking at the headline picture. No head with the beer.
I thought it was a UA, not beer!
Very nice place and so polite on a friday night it is not uncommon to hear "Good evening ladies may I push your stool in" hehehe
The bar owner could make a much better business decision by serving trannies, gays, etc. Talk to your friendly neighborhood sociologist... They'll tell you this demographic makes more money on average than the hetero population. Just sayin'
I know of a club in Portland which, completely contrary to the wishes of the ownder, started becoming a hangout for gang members. His solution was to play only country music and the gang members quit coming.Â
What does Commissioner Avakian like to wear?  Hmmmmm   Maybe these trans whatever people just want to cause trouble.  That seems to be the thing to do these days.  Cause problems for someone or some business just because they can.
Why would anyone want to be someplace where they're not welcome?? I've never got that !
 @Rob C 503 Well, I would guess it is because they feel they should be entitled to be able to go anywhere and do anything that they like, regardless of how anyone else feels about anything.  That's what our society is becoming. Rights and entitlements, with lack of common sense and reason. Sadness.
Yeah, I forgot about that entitlement component. Look at me, gimme, I have rights.....Arent I important !!!  Yup, its really sad !
 @Rob C 503 ~  Um-hmm... that's exactly what I've wondered each time I've seen a story about this bar... I mean, what is it..?  There's no other bars in Portland...?  Â
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Businesses should be able to serve who they want to and not serve who they don't want to. Once again government is the problem with there excessive regulations.
I once bowled on a team with some cross-dressing men. What a hoot! And nobody gave it a second thought once they got to know them. Just goes to show, you can't judge a book by its cover, and you can't judge a person by the clothes they wear.
 @Mikey Well, I can.
Milkey I think you're wrong. We judge people every minute of the day by the way they appear.
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Say for example you're getting into an elevator with what looks like five gang members and you're a small pasty faced white guy, the elevator right next door has five nuns in it . Which one are you going to get into.
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Everybody makes a big deal about discrimination when we all do it all the time, sometimes for very good reasons,, safety.
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I don't want to be around really smelly people, people with bad language, people with criminal records, and even people that don't have my same political view. Is that not my right and yours?
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I would say this business owner isn't discriminating against cross-dressers in particular perhaps he just doesn't like to be around cross-dressers and also perhaps they don't make him as much money as other groups. Why should he not make that choice for his business and let these people find someone who does want them or start their own bar and see if they can make money catering to their own kind?
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If you choose to respond try to do so in a way that doesn't indicate your prejudice if you can.
 @OrThinker said, "Say for example you're getting into an elevator with what looks like five gang members and you're a small pasty faced white guy, the elevator right next door has five nuns in it . Which one are you going to get into."
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I'll go with the gangers-- I *know* they won't bother me. I have *no* idea what a gaggle of nuns might get up to!
 @Mikey I was wrong.
 @TreeWizard hahahaha!
I would never have gone to this bar in the first place. It's cheaper to drink beer at home! Especially, when the only person I have to look at is of the gender I happen to like: female!
So, why is the LABOR Commission getting involved?
 @exsup I'm guessing that Mr. Avakian has some higher political aspirations and needs to start somewhere. Being the "labor" commissioner, I guess that job title is somewhat of a misnomer now. I previously thought that position dealt with employment laws. I learn something new all the time.
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Brad: what is your political ambition?
 @GeauxOSU  @exsup It's written in the act that a person who thinks they have been subjected to discrimination should file a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Look it up and learn something new. :)
OK you call your bar The P Club you are going to attract people you don't want. Your new name isn't any better. calling it Twilight Room Annex or in this case "Twilight Room Anne" x, you are going to get tranys. calling it  Chris's Straight Bar or if you want it Chris's Gay Bar the people will also be able to figure it out.
 @32jim2 Should be called "Titty Boom Room".
 @32jim2 The "P" Club? Really?
Is that what's in that glass?
Sure looks like it.
Not a surprise to me that Avakian is filing charges. He's been trying to lock-in the LGBT base for years. I don't agree with the bar banning access to patrons, but then again, I do think that the patrons could have found another venue to get their drink on, still not an excuse for the poor behavior of the bar owner.
Why didn't they want to be a tranny bar? Trannies are endlessly entertaining, they drink a lot, and Darcelle's has been in business forever!
Then they can go there!
 @jpk They can go wherever they want, because you're not allowed to discriminate against them by barring them from businesses. You can go wherever you want, too, but if you're at a loss, I have a suggestion about where you can go.
Correct! I know where I can go, and I'm going for another beer!
The Freak Show should stay in the circus.
A private business should be allowed to conduct its business in any safe way it sees fit. Just like customers are free to refuse to partake if they don't like the establishments policies.
 @thunderchief T'ain't really a "private" business if it caters to the public.
If it WERE a "private" business, it would be open to members only.
So, it falls under public jurisdiction.
@Mikey @thunderchief How come a protected class doesn't include smokers? I like to smoke with my beer, so I guess I will be glad I can still do it in my house!!!
 @TreeWizard Yes, they make me sick.
I agree on the smoking, but alcoholic beverage also causes health problems to others, doesn't it?
 @jpk     I think that is because smoking can cause health problems to others. I guess so can trannies?
 @thunderchief However, if a business is presumed to be open to the public, it is unlawful for that business to turn around ban customers based solely on something that is a protected status/class.  A business is able to ask people to leave if they appear drunk, or are behaving poorly, but you can't just ban customers based on their race, gender, religion, sexuality.....
 @pdxd  @thunderchief Yes they can.
 @thunderchief Private clubs, yes, private businesses, no.Â
 @thunderchief I agree.
Glad to hear it that they gonna file charges  and the punishment should be on the same level as the crime.They should  make Chris Penner for punishment  dress up as a women and spend the day going all over Portland shopping and enjoy food at the local bars so he can get a feeling how it feels to be a man dressed in a womens clothes.Be sure to have 6 inch heels ( hear there hard as hell to walk in) and lots of ruby red lipstick.
 @riderofthelegend The crime isn't dressing outside a traditional gender role, the issue here is basic civil rights, chris penner disregarded the basic civil rights of his customers by discriminating against them based on their sexual orientation.Â
@riderofthelegend What crime would that be? And if being a man dressed in womens clothes, and 6 inch heels, is a burden, then why would someone do that? No one is forcing anyone to dress that way, it is a choice. Most women don't wear six inch heels, but someone who chooses to do so is certainly free to. What is your problem?
So much for "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."
What are the legal ramifications for this business if these charges brought by the state of Oregon are confirmed?
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Because it seems to me that all this is is a shakedown. Not saying the claims aren't valid. What I'm asking is...so what? What are the punishments under this 2007 law for the business?
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From what I can tell, this bureau is just doing the legal work for these "victims" that otherwise would have been done by their own lawyers.Â
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So now what that they didn't reach a settlement? A 200 dollar fine for the business and tax payer funded legal discovery work from the state handed over to their new lawyers in the civil lawsuit? Â
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