Advertisement Gay couple says OTR pizzeria bouncer threatened to throw them out for kissing, holding hands Alleged incident happened at Goodfellas on Saturday Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A couple said a bouncer at Goodfellas Pizzeria in Over-the-Rhine threatened to throw them out if they continued to kiss and hold hands. Bobby Slavens said his fiancé and two friends went to Goodfellas on Saturday to get late-night pizza. “We go all the time. We love Goodfellas. We've never had an issue there before,” Slavens said. Slavens said the issue started when they approached the bouncer to show him their IDs to gain entry. “We were just holding hands. (We) didn't think anything about it, then we gave a little kiss on the lips, a discreet peck. As we did so, the bouncer came to us and said, 'Hey, you guys need to stop that or you are going to get kicked out.' We were dumbfounded,” Slavens said. Slavens said he and his fiancé immediately dropped hands, but began to feel uncomfortable when they entered the pizzeria. “As the line went on, we were asked if we wanted to order pizza, and I said, 'No, we don’t. We were just told that we cannot hold hands or kiss,'” Slavens said. “We have seen people in Goodfellas or any other establishment, great couples that were holding hands or kissing, and nothing was said to them. So we left." Slavens and his fiancé decided to post about the incident on Facebook. They said the confrontation didn't end when they decided to leave. “As I turned around, I heard, ‘You better get used to this, this is Trump's America.' After that, I was like, 'Wow.' I just walked away,” Slavens said. “I was very upset and kind of just in disbelief. You hear all of these stories on the internet from people, especially in our community, that people are not happy. They express their anger towards our community, but it has never happened to me. “ Goodfellas posted a response, saying that the incident should not have happened. Manager Mike McLaren said the encounter was unacceptable. “It is an unacceptable situation. We treat people here as family, everyone that comes here as family and all of our customers as family," McLaren said. McLaren said management is dealing with the issue internally. “Once we have all of the information together, individuals like that do not work for this company. We do not tolerate that kind of action or speech,” McLaren said. ‘We are gathering information, talking to people, trying to make sure that we know exactly what went down. We are pulling everything together to make sure we have all the information together to figure out who, what, where, when and make sure we handle it the best way possible.” Slavens said he and his fiancé do not plan to go back to Goodfellas. “They have been very kind to the community. It was just this one incident and employee. I would like to have some resolution and some action taken again the employee,” Slavens said. “I accept their apology, but I will take my business elsewhere. “ Goodfellas is encouraging the couple to come back. “Please come back. You are more than welcome here, everyone is welcome here. Everyone is family. Please come back (to) Goodfellas Pizzeria. Please be a part of our family,” McLaren said. “Our company is built on being family and being together. We try to keep an open line of communication with everybody and make sure our employees understand who we are, what we are and what we stand for and how we treat people.”