A local story sounds like a bad joke. A transgender woman, Briana Sandy, walks into a bar. She orders a drink. The bartender, for some unknown reason, assumes she’s a prostitute and announces “We don’t serve your kind here” (BTW: Star Wars memes have been attached to this story already) and a bouncer asks her to leave. (Update: There have been some changes as to what happened according to news reports. Some reports say the bartender assumed she was a prostitute. Another news source said the refusal was possibly because she was transgendered. The gender of the bartender is even in question as one source says the bartender was a man yet another reports, which had footage with Briana, said the bartender was a woman)

In the wake of Caitlyn Jenner, the local story has gained national attention. For the past few hours I have been looking up information on the story as well as digging into the sewer that passes for comment pages by regular people. I always have to prepare myself when entering comment pages because I would like to believe that people who comment on those pages are the outliers of society. I try to convince myself that the comments are not what the majority thinks, however I’m starting to feel this isn’t the case. I’m starting to believe that the comment sections of websites are a way for a few people to express what is really on the minds of a majority of Americans. What is said out in the open, when microphones and cameras are rolling, only reflect the politically correct face of an issue.

Locally, there were two news sites that had comments on the story. I have posted most of the negative comments I could find pertaining to the story. Sometimes the posters went into personal attacks against one another and I tried not to include those. Here’s something to consider in these posts about the transgendered patron, unlike the national story about Caitlyn Jenner, where it seemed like most of the world is in full support of her, I would hazard a conservative guess and say this was a 50/50 split for and against. Just to cover myself I have removed the names of the posters from this list.

AZCentral (NBC)

Give me a break. If you didn't want attention when you decided to be an ugly attempt at a member of the other sex, then you should have stuck with the life you were born with. This is all for attention/an upcoming lawsuit. Also, last time I checked(even if the bar doesn't want to take ownership of it) they have the right to refuse service to anyone. Love how all these "groups" can hold their own rallies, have establishments etc etc where they exclude people, but the minute it happens to them, they get to sue and cause an uproar.

I think Snoop Dog(yes of all people) said it best: These science projects should not be overshadowing real issues and real heroes.

One last thing... Funny that the supporters for these people always reach for threats and violence...the very thing that they all claim happen to them in their lawsuits.

She probably was not served not because she is transgender, but because she is god awful ugly!!

It's a man. The bar should just put up a sign that says "we can deny service for any reason".

What's a disgrace is that Bruce Jenner finding a new way to keep his pathetic family in the news awhile longer, is winning undeserved awards and has pushed a supposed issue to the forefront.

Our country has bigger issues than to worry about a very small group of people that obviously need counseling instead of the attention they are screaming for

It's a MAN, baby!

If half of google's staff showed up tomorrow in a wig and dress would the gender gap in tech jobs be closed? If the words 5 richest men decided tomorrow to put on a wig and dress would the earning disparity be solved?

ABC15

yes it does because young children see these men dressing like women with beards and lipstick and its scary!
people who enable and encourage this behaviour only make the mental disorder worse!!
and what a dress makes him eligible to enter ladies room you freak!!

Well you see gender dysphoria falls under the "body dysmorphia" classification for mental illnesses. Have you ever heard of bulliema? When a person who is thin looks into a mirror and sees a fat person? It's very close to that. We do not treat bulliema by allowing the patients to purge themselves to death yet due to the new age political correctness over taking society we are no longer allowed to treat sufferers of gender dysphoria properly amongst threats of discrimination. The people pushing this agenda will not tell you that suicide rates after gender transition skyrocket.

It's a false cure presented to people who will never get the help they deserve. We do not treat any other disorder this way, we do not allow schizophrenics to spiral into their delusions, we do not tell sufferers of OCD that the only road to happiness is to wash their hands more often.

i am sorry i insulted your chicks with dicks you sicko

those people are scary like circus freaks!!!
lipstick on a pig is still a pig!

another perv who looks for pic and thats why i dont anymore sickos
these trannys are weird and men like you love stubble faced cross dressers

Brianna, how come transgender never seem to be employed? It's always full time students of one type or another.

With all the news stories about LGBT lately, you would think half the population identifies as LGBT.
Actually, about 1% identify as LGBT. It is the flavor of the year for media coverage. It is as if constantly pounding it into our heads will make it normal and being hetero, or " Breeders" as heteros are sometimes referred to as a derogatory term by LGBTs, is not natural.
As for someone identifying as LGBT...
I DON'T CARE!
Don't shove it down my throat.
Don't rub it in my face.
Don't make a spectacle of yourself, and most people will never know about your bedroom tastes, which is where they should stay, no matter which way you roll.

Briana Sandy you are a man and will always be a man !!
get help for your disorder!!

Claiming to be a sex opposite of what you physiologically are is the FLAVOR of the day headline. I hope it soon passes. Lets face it, with an everything goes bastardization of the First Amendment in this country and the PC that is really BS, and everyone now coming out as trans, it's a fade that hopefully will fad as quickly as it arrived on the coat tails of Barfy Brucey.

I see the circus is in town. I wouldn't want that thing in my bar either.

Briana Sandy Your delusional if you think you're going to open any form of business, let alone build any kind of client base once they walk in and realize just who's running the show. I'd imagine the only medical facility you'll be involved in will be operated out of your garage and will likely involve taking a belt sander to peoples genitals, in which case I won't be interested.

I posted the large amount of negative comments to illustrate a sad reality I think we need to keep in our minds. You can have all the celebrity well-wishers, you can all of the feel good stories and you have all of the positive (dare I say politically correct) images in the media, but until subjects aren’t ridiculed in the anonymous frontier that is social media, we will have problems dealing with uncomfortable (for some) social issues. It is very easy to applaud and give praise to someone in the public eye. It is easy for someone with means to be able to overcome or insulate themselves from harsh publicity. The real judge of how we are as a society comes when we have to deal with an issue face to face.

I’m not being cruel about this, but Briana Sandy doesn’t have the look Caitlyn Jenner has. She doesn’t have the army of stylist, the famed photographer, the million dollar house in Malibu nor the retained publicists and lawyers. She was just a woman who wasn’t bothering anyone and wanted to get a drink at a bar and watch the Belmont Stakes. We can make all the assumptions and give all the excuses we want about the why the bartender refused to allow her to drink at the bar. To me, it has the stink of a weak cover story. And you know what? The disturbing part of the story for me is that, judging by the comment sections I have posted, a good number of people feel comfortable calling Briana ugly, questioning her mental state and ridiculing her. They feel it necessary to tear down another human being, just because Brianna Sandy doesn’t fit their social definition of conformity.

Briana Sandy has to face these negative and hateful comments on her own. There isn’t an army of celebrities coming to her support. In the real world, where most of us live, we have to handle negative comments by bigoted people on our own. We have to face people who will come up with excuses as to why we are in the wrong, just because they perceive the establishment; be it people, a business or government officials, as being right.