Gay Couple Says Waiters Shouted Homophobic Slurs at LI Restaurant

SMITHTOWN, NY - A Smithtown restaurant is apologizing after employees shouted homophobic slurs at a gay couple last week.

Through Facebook, the couple detailed the event that occurred at Casa Rustica on W. Main Street last Friday.

According to their posts, while leaving the eatery, the two walked through a circle of waiters who "shouted faggot in Spanish and then all laughed at us."

"We actually felt in danger because they were all around us," one of the men wrote in his post. In his post, his husband wrote that it was a "rude reminder that homophobia is alive and well on Long Island."

"It continues to happen to far too many of us every day," he wrote.

One of the men updated his original post to reflect that he spoke to the owner of Casa Rustica who apologized personally to both of them.

"[The owner] called us with a sincere apology. I do believe that he was very upset over what happened. He assured us that he has already spoken with the staff and will continue to do so. He offered to terminate the employees and [we] told him not to. We asked instead that he ensure us that he would teach and coach them and he agreed," the post read. "We believe ignorant people can learn and views can change."

The man went on to state that he and his husband did not post about the incident to "close the restaurant" or to "get the employees fired" but rather to spread awareness to foster change.

"After our discussion with the owner we do believe that we have accomplished this," he wrote. "We believe he has taken this seriously and that hopefully the ignorant employee has now been enlightened. It’s about positive change not negative consequences."

In addition, the restaurant posted the following public apology to the couple on its Facebook page:

We are deeply sorry and saddened for the unfortunate incident that took place on May 3rd. We do not condone the actions of one employee’s irresponsible behavior and it does not reflect the reputation of our 34 year establishment. We accept everyone’s lifestyle. The employees have been suspended until further notice and we are making sure they are enlightened of modern day lifestyles. There’s no room for anyone who isn’t educated in our restaurant. We hold our staff to the highest esteem of professionalism and personal integrity. People are proud to be part of our establishment and only people of the highest character will be employed here going forward. Again, the actions of one individual does not reflect us as a whole. We’ve been in business for 34 years and NEVER had such an unfortunate incident happen like this before. Please accept our apology. We have numerous employees that are part of the LGBTQ community and we support them 100%. The past couple of days have been heartbreaking for us and we feel terrible that these customers had to go through such a horrific experience in our building. No excuse for it. We promise you that we will never let anything like this happen again. From the bottom of our hearts- we are incredibly sorry and hope some day you will accept our deepest condolences.