An Aussie dad claims to have been shocked when he was asked to leave a proud LGBTQIA+ Brisbane bar for wearing a Donald Trump hat, with staff telling him he was “not welcome” in the establishment.
Queensland dad Rob Holt, was attending a Halloween rave at The Wickham in Fortitude Valley, with his wife and six-year-old daughter over the weekend when a staff member asked him to leave due to his ‘Trump 2024’ cap.
“I’m just disappointed and confused at the end of the day,” Mr Holt told Sydney 2GB radio of the encounter.
Mr Holt said he was waiting for his wife and daughter to return from the bathroom when a female staff member approached him near the bar and asked him to leave.
“She said, ‘Are you leaving now?’,” Mr Holt told host Ben Fordham.
“I said, ‘Yeah, well, we’re about to leave. Why is that?’ And she said, ‘Well, you have to leave. We want you out of here’.”
When he pressed for a reason, Mr Holt was told it was “because you’re wearing a Trump hat”.
“I said, ‘Well, okay what’s that got to do with anything?’ And she said ‘We’ll we’re a gay bar, you can’t wear that here. We don’t want you here. There are people here who feel like they’re not safe’”
“I said ‘really? I’ve never experienced that before’.”
After again confirming that was the reason, Mr Holt told the staff member he felt a “little bit offended” and questioned “what would happen if roles were reversed?”
“I said, ‘Imagine if you can, that you approach another establishment and you are wearing a pride hat or something like that, and you’re asked to leave. I can imagine that would be a big deal.’”
Mr Holt argued his hat did not include any rude gestures or additional text beyond ‘Trump 2024’ with three gold stars.
“(But) she just continued to say, ‘No, you’re not welcome. You’ve got to go now. You have to leave.”
The Queensland dad said he was left “disappointed” and “frustrated” by the ordeal, having “mostly positive” reactions when he wears the hat out on the street.
“The thing I’m most worried about is that the new social contagion sort of coming across from America to Australia, where you get refused service, you are kicked out of establishments, not for who you are, but for what you believe in, or what you wear,” he said.
“The last time I checked, we’re a multicultural country with many beliefs and we prop up a little person for what they believe in, and we support minorities and … everyone’s allowed to have their opinion. Where a democracy (with) free speech. I guess (it shows) just a little bit of how it’s heading these days, it’s disappointing.”
Mr Holt said he highly doubts he will return to the pub.
“I’d like to go back, just like to any place. But, it’s a little bit poor on their behalf if that’s the way people are treated. I certainly wouldn’t treat anybody a lot like that,” he said.
“If you’ve got beliefs and you disagree with people, you’ve just got to try and understand people from where they’re coming from why they feel like that, (rather than) just having a hissy fit and getting rid of people just for the sake of it.”
Eight days out from the US election, the race between Mr Trump and Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris remains neck-and-neck.
On Sunday, Mr Trump held a sold-out rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Some 20,000 supporters packed into the iconic venue to hear from the former President and a string of celebrity guests, including Dr Phil and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
News.com.au has contacted The Wickham for comment.
