A Windsor woman isn't pleased with a local ice cream shop after being refused service.
Brittany Leroux wanted T. Bear's Creamery at 9945 Tecumseh Rd. E. in Windsor to create an ice cream cake that featured a drag queen Thursday.
Leroux says her husband is a huge fan of RuPaul's Drag Race and she wanted to surprise him with one of his favourite characters on a cake for his birthday.
After explaining what a drag queen is to a staff member, she was turned away.
"Then she said, 'like a transvestite?' That's when I said 'whoa, whoa, what's going on here,'" she says. "That's when I said, 'no, it's a man that dresses up and does shows, comedies, singing, dancing, acting. You name it, drag queens can do it.' That's when she said, 'we don't do that kind of stuff here.'"
Leroux says she took some time to calm down and decided to call back to speak to a manager, who backed up the decision.
"When he grouped together pedophiles and drag queens, my mind just went, what is happening? That's when I was like I need to start recording this conversation right now," she says. "He just basically was denying service because the cake had a gay LGTBQ theme to it I guess."
She hopes the incident encourages more understanding.
"You don't have to wear pink if you're a girl. You don't have to wear blue if you're a boy; you can wear a dress if you're a boy and shorts if you're a girl," she says. "That's what I want people to know. You're a human, you're a soul, you're a being with a heart that beats and that's what matters."
In an email to The Dan MacDonald Show a representative of the store said, "I have sent those who had an issue an explanation and apology. The person I sent it to accepted the apology and we moved on."
Leroux says she did not receive an apology and does not want one. She just hopes the store's owner learns to be a better human being.
Trans Wellness Ontario has heard Leroux's story and is taking action.
Education Co-Ordinator Sydney Brouillard-Coyle says a statement has been posted via social media and emailed to the business in hopes they can sit down and talk about what happened.
"This is a clear example of the dehumanization that is experienced by trans and queer individuals so often," they said. "Part of our role here at Trans Wellness Ontario is to challenge these instances and to raise awareness when they happen."
They hope to hear back from the shop's owner as soon as possible, but Brouillard-Coyle says, "it's possible that they haven't seen it ... we will be directly reaching out to them on Monday if they still have not contacted us."
(Courtesy of Trans Wellness Ontario)