Texas Restaurant Worker Gets Gay-Supportive Fist Bump From Obama

After shouting 'Equal rights for gay people!' the employee got a gesture of solidarity from the president.

A gay employee at Franklin Barbecue in Austin had “a lucky day to be the register girl” Thursday, as he not only got to wait on President Obama but got a fist bump in support of LGBT rights.

Daniel Rugg Webb, a musician and comedian who works part-time at the restaurant, was on duty at the register as the president came up to pay for more than $300 worth of takeout, The Austin Chronicle reports. Webb slapped the counter and shouted, “Equal rights for gay people!” Obama asked, “Are you gay?” and Webb replied, “Only when I have sex.”

“That’s when he laughed and said, ‘Bump me,’” Webb told the Chronicle. Several onlookers photographed the fist bump and circulated the photo on Twitter. “It was just a lucky day to be the register girl,” Webb added.

Obama gets a fist pump as he pays for his lunch during a surprise visit to Franklin Barbecue in Texas #obamaaustin pic.twitter.com/sPUAMIAm2S — Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) July 10, 2014

The president’s presence at the restaurant was not unexpected; Secret Service agents had scoped out the eatery earlier in the day and let employees know he was coming in to pick up food for his travel party after giving a speech in Austin. But Webb found the nature of the interaction a pleasant surprise.

“As a comedian, it was cool to have a moment where I was making a sitting president laugh — over something that might be considered inappropriate is a bonus,” Webb told BuzzFeed Saturday.

He said he is pleased that Obama is a strong supporter of gay rights, but he wishes the president would be tougher on antigay politicians, such as Texas governor Rick Perry. “If Rick Perry would’ve walked in, I would have lost my job,” Webb told the Chronicle.

Webb added that he’s carrying on a family tradition of meeting presidents; his mother got to shake hands with John F. Kennedy in Fort Worth just hours before his assassination in Dallas.

He also noted that Obama readily engaged with others at the restaurant. One woman handed him a note that said “Stop Deportations” and “They had kind of a real conversation, direct,” Webb told the Chronicle. “You don’t just get face time with world leaders. I was impressed that he had a serious conversation with somebody in the middle of what would be a photo op.”