Caliente Cab Company Remains in the Crosshairs

This protestor joined more than 50 others outside Caliente Cab Company yesterday in support of Khadijah Farmer and her lawsuit against the popular eatery

Less than a week after lesbian New Yorker Khadijah Farmer filed a lawsuit against Caliente Cab Company in response to a male bouncer who kicked her out of the women's bathroom for being 'too masculine,' more than 50 people converged on the popular West Village eatery to protest the way the restaurant allegedly treated her. Farmer maintains she, her girlfriend and their friend were kicked out of Caliente Cab Company despite her repeated attempts to reassure the bouncer she is actually a women. This incident allegedly happened hours after more than 500,000 people attended the city's annual Gay Pride parade. The restaurant maintains it did nothing wrong but a growing chorus of activists beg to disagree... stay tuned!

Greetings from a Gloomy Boston

Today marks the first day of my annual October swing through New England. I'm working out of my friend's apartment in the South End of Boston. It's a typical cool and drizzly October morning outside. The leaves have begun to change slowly but surely despite the recent warm weather.

The last few days have been quite busy for the movement for LGBT rights. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act debate continues to rage with almost daily updates from the National Center for Transgender Equality and opposing statements from Congressman Barney Frank [D-Mass.]. Equality Alabama board member Howard Bayless won his bid to secure a seat on the Birmingham Board of Education. Khadijah Farmer, a New York lesbian who was thrown out of a popular West Village restaurant, appeared on "Today" this morning with lawyer Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. And Connecticut activists are eagerly awaiting their state's Supreme Court ruling on a lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples. Journalists (and bloggers alike) will certainly remain busy over the next several weeks!

Lesbian Sues NYC Restaurant After Bouncer Allegedly Kicked Her Out of Restroom

Boy in Bushwick blogged extensively in July on lesbian New Yorker Khadijah Farmer's claim against the Caliente Cab Company bouncer who allegedly kicked her out of a women's restroom inside the restaurant while she, her girlfriend and a friend had dinner after gay Pride. Farmer has now sued the West Village restaurant alleging discrimination because her masculine appearance with 'societal norms' of gender identity.

Farmer's lawyer, Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, told the Times the lawsuit is important because it could potentially set a legal precedent for cases involving sex stereotyping. The city's human rights law includes gender identity or expression but the legal argument surely matters little to Farmer as she seeks justice for what she said happened to her inside the restaurant's restroom. Caliente Cab maintains it did nothing wrong but its position that Farmer simply wants money is absurd at best. The way in which the bouncer allegedly mistreated Farmer, especially after gay Pride, remains extremely unfortunate considering the throngs of LGBT people from across the world who descend upon Manhattan each June to attend the parade. The idea of gender identity and expression may seem a far too academic concept which many people may fail to understand. Humanity and dignity, on the other hand, are basic rights to which everyone is entitled.

The Summer That Was

The summer of 2007 is unofficially over. Fire Island's seasonal residents once again have their pristine sands to themselves. The city's annual Fashion Week kicks off this week while I finally rode the Cyclone at Coney Island this past weekend before developers erect condos at the possible expense of Astroland. Summer, especially August, remains a relatively slow news cycle. Journalists and their editors and producers often scrape the bottom of the barrel to fill their newscasts, broadcasts or issues. This summer, however, generated a number of LGBT headlines that kept the movement for LGBT rights on its. Below are five stories which kept this blogger and others busy this year.

1) Former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig [R-Idaho] resigned over Labor Day weekend after a Washington political newspaper reported the socially conservative lawmaker, who repeatedly voted for the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment and other anti-LGBT legislation, plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge after Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport police arrested him in a bathroom for alleged leud conduct in June. Craig repeatedly maintained he is 'not gay' but the broader movement for LGBT rights, which by and large ran far away from this story, certainly thinks otherwise.

2) The majority of Democratic presidential candidates participated in a largely historic forum sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and Logo last month in Los Angeles. Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson stunned the audience with his initial assertion that sexual orientation remains a choice while the majority of his counterparts who participated in the forum stuck to their talking points and sound bites about equality and fairness for all Americans. Many activists questioned the lack of journalists from LGBT media outlets in the confab while others blasted the forum's overall format and even content.

3) New York City activists expressed outrage in various manifestations after the city denied Pride Fest's permit applications to relocate its annual street fair to Chelsea. The Radical Homosexual Agenda and other LGBT organizations staged a protest at the New York City Council's annual LGBT Pride commemoration in June. New York's annual Pride march attracted more than half a million people despite the controversy surrounding Pride Fest's cancellation.

4) An Iowa court ruled late last month the prohibition of marriage for gay and lesbian couples violated the Hawkeye State's Constitution. Tim McQuillan and Sean Fritz remain the only same-sex couple to tie the knot before Polk County District Judge Robert Hanson suspended his own decision on August 31. Iowa continues to draw both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates ahead of its first-in-the-nation caucuses early next year [or later this year]. The impact of this ruling should remain minuscule outside of social conservative circles despite the fact it remains the latest salvo in the broader initiative to secure marriage for same-sex couples.

5) The ejection of a lesbian from a popular New York restaurant following the city's LGBT Pride parade in June sparked widespread outrage among local activists. Khadijah Farmer, 27, said a bouncer at the Caliente Cab Company in the West Village ejected her from the women's restroom after he said she was actually a man. The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund joined Farmer, her parents and others in a press conference outside the eatery on July 2. The Queer Justice League and other activists boycotted Caliente Cab Company following the alleged incident.

What do you think are the top LGBT news stories from the summer of 2007?

LGBT New Yorkers Boycott Caliente Cab Company

The arguably inevitable boycott of the Caliente Cab Company restaurant in the West Village continues more than a month after a bouncer allegedly confronted lesbian Khadijah Farmer while she used the eatery's restroom. The Queer Justice League picketed the restaurant on July 15. The group plans to hold a second protest on Sunday to renew their calls that LGBT New Yorkers boycott the Caliente Cab Company until Farmer receives a formal apology.

Farmer's case continues to receive widespread coverage in New York's mainstream, LGBT and even Spanish media. Her lawyer, Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, has filed a complaint with the city's Commission on Human Rights on his clients behalf. He is also considering a lawsuit against Caliente Cab Company after negotiations with their counsel produced little progress. This case remains a sad irony in part because the alleged discrimination took place hours after more than 500,000 people took part in the city's annual Pride parade in Manhattan. The restaurant continues to disregard the serious allegations Farmer has made against it. Activists are right to demand action against the eatery and to show discrimination has no place in New York.

New York Restaurant Allegedly Throws Lesbian Out After She Used the Women's Restroom

Manhattanite Khadijah Farmer, her girlfriend and their friend were among the more than half a million people who packed the city late last month to attend New York's annual gay Pride march. She told reporters, however, their day turned sour after a bouncer at the popular Caliente Cab Company escorted the trio from the West Village restaurant after he mistook Farmer for a man while she used the women's restroom

"The bouncer burst into the bathroom," Farmer told reporters at a press conference earlier today outside the Caliente Cab Company on Seventh Avenue South. "He started banging on the stall door... it was horrifying."

The restaurant declined to respond to Farmer's allegations despite their past support of a number of local LGBT organizations. Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund Executive Director Michael Silverman represents Farmer. He told reporters he and his client may consider legal action against the Caliente Cab Company if the restaurant does not respond to their demands -- adopt and enforce a policy which bars discrimination based on gender identity, expression and sexual orientation; train staff to comply with various New York public accommodations law and compensate Farmer herself. This case remains highly ironic due to the fact it allegedly took place after New York's annual gay Pride parade. The Caliente Cab Company remains clearly on the defensive as it faces reporters' questions about why the bouncer allegedly targeted Farmer and the overall nature of the restaurant. Answers to these questions will almost certainly continue to unfold over the next few weeks if and/or when the restaurant decides to respond to these allegations.



Khadijah Farmer, 27, speaks to reporters outside the Caliente Cab Company restaurant in New York's West Village during a July 2 press conference. She alleges a bouncer escorted her, her girlfriend and another friend from the restaurant after he said she was too masculine to use the women's restroom. [Photo courtesy of 1010 WINS]