The left-leaning Politifact gave a “mostly true” rating to President Joe Biden’s claim that gay people are being thrown out of restaurants.
The president made his outlandish claim during the White House LGBTQ “Pride Month 2023” celebration this month when he claimed that restaurants will ban gay couples if they show a hint of their sexual orientation.
“When a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon, something is still very wrong in America,” Biden said.
Politifact rated the claim “Mostly True” based on vague laws in 22 states and some highly sketchy anecdotes, one of which allegedly occurred in liberal New York state.
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and Betty Who, left in red, arrive for a Pride Month celebration on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, June 10, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“Although it drew criticism, Biden’s illustration is not without factual backing. Same-sex marriage is federally protected, but dining in a restaurant with your same-sex spouse is not,” Politifact said. “Some states have passed anti-discrimination laws, but in 22 states, it is legal under state law for proprietors to refuse service to customers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Local areas may have anti-discrimination ordinances, but it varies.”
When it came to actually citing instances of discrimination, Politifact offered questionable anecdotes. One in Florida, for instance, centered on a transgender person being kicked out of an establishment for trying to use the women’s restroom. Another story allegedly happened in Texas close to a decade ago in 2014 while another anecdote allegedly happened in the ultra-progressive bastion of New York City in 2021. Politifact also failed to note that the New York restaurant apologized to the couple and fired the employee who reportedly kicked them out.
Despite their incredibly flimsy case, Politifact rated Biden’s claim “Mostly True” and simply said that Biden needs to offer more clarification.
“However, it is hard to tell how often this sort of discrimination actually occurs and where. We found news reports of same-sex couples being refused service as recently as 2021, but one expert said these instances are on the decline,” it said. “There’s not good data on how often LGBTQ+ people are still discriminated against in public places, but Biden is accurate that it can happen in America, and is legally allowed in nearly half of the states in the U.S.”
