Mexican restaurant fires waiter who used homophobic slur at couple
Miguel Clement and his boyfriend were repeatedly called 'jotos' after they were seen hugging
By Steve Brown
A restaurant has fired an employee who used a homophobic slur at a couple.
Miguel Clement and his boyfriend were visiting the Agave Jalisco Mexican Restaurant in Corpus Christi when one of the male employees pointed to the couple and began shouting ‘jotos’ – the Mexican term for ‘fag’ – after seeing them hug.
Miguel’s mother, Sandra, took to Facebook and wrote: “They exchanged a hug as they entered the restaurant and a male employee pointed at them while talking to some female employees seated at a table and screamed ‘jotos’.
“[The employee] proceeded to walk to the kitchen tossing his towel in the air loudly singing ‘jotos’ over and over again.
“The other employees in the kitchen, the female employees seated at a table, and the waiters were laughing and looking at my son and his boyfriend.”
Now manager, Jonathan Mares, publicly issued an apology to the couple and detailed the steps taken to address the matter.
The statement read: “Agave Jalisco Restaurant wants to offer our most sincere apology.
“We, the owners and management, know the seriousness of this issue, and want to state that we do not condone or accept this type of homophobic behaviour from any single person who is a part of the team of Agave Jalisco.
“We want to reiterate that the actions of this employee in no way reflect Agave Jalisco Restaurant and its values or beliefs.
“We are writing this statement now as a public apology to the Clement family, Miguel Clement and his boyfriend.
“We here at Agave Jalisco are truly sorry for what happened that day and will strive to always make Agave Jalisco a loving, accepting business, free of judgement. We will make sure this never happens again.”