Chico’s Tacos Controversy Draws Protests On Both Sides Friday
By ABC-7 Producer/Reporter Daniel Marin
EL PASO — The controversy continues to brew over a kiss between two men at an East El Paso Chico’s Tacos restaurant, with both sides of the debate ramping up their fight.
Carlos Diaz de Leon, a friend of the two men who were kissing, says he’s getting hateful phone calls.
At a Friday afternoon protest, Diaz de Leon says he’s “frightened for himself and for his friends”.
People on both sides of the debate came to protest Friday afternoon near the restaurant. One man who came to the Chico’s protest showed his support for the security guard who kicked out the two kissing men.
However, he says he fears threats as well, saying he might get in trouble and people might call him because he was “standing up for the establishment”.
Meanwhile, a gay rights supporter says that either way, enough is enough. He mentioned “the very huge homophobic sentiment” across the nation, stressing that gay kids in high school were being bullied and committing suicide.
According to Diaz de Leon, his friends only kissed. However, letters that were handed out by Chico’s private security company paint a different picture.
In the letter, the security company says: “We had a group of individuals, who appeared intoxicated, enter the establishment, engage in disorderly conduct, claim discrimination, and gain sympathy with the public by having the community believe it was only a gentle kiss”.
Diaz de Leon filed a complaint with El Paso Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit. He says that in the complaint, he was advised to go to Internal Affairs by local attorney Bill Ellis and El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles.
Sheriff Wiles, in a statement, told ABC-7 that whenever anyone comes to him with a complaint about law enforcement, he always advices them to contact the appropriate office to make a complaint.
The truth is that gay people are trying very hard to impose their way of live on the general public, that said. What’s next, sex on the tables? The fact is that some people haveforgotten what decent behavior is. It doesn’t matter if they are gay or strait lewd behavior in public is wrong especially where there are children present. Chico’s Tacos is a family oriented restaurant and people should be able to take their kids there without having to worry about them being exposed to indecent sexual behavior. Chico’s Tacos owner and personnel have every right to protect their place of business as well as protecting their decent clientele. Seriously people, where is your self respect and dignity?
