Watch: Texan gay couple told they can’t kiss in public pool

Texas police are investigating threats made against the family of a young gay couple who were told they were not allowed to kiss in a public swimming pool.

The threats were made after Brandon Roper and his boyfriend Giuseppe Cellura were approached by a pool attendant at the Tehama Ridge pool, Texas, and told that kissing was banned, CBS reports.

After Roper challenged the policy, saying it did not appear to apply to heterosexual swimmers – which included his sister and her boyfriend – he filmed an exchange involving the female employee and her 21-year-old manager, in which he can be heard accusing the pool workers of discrimination.

“She [the worker] came up to the poolside, and said, ‘you can’t do that, and I’m calling my manager’,” said Roper.

“If my mum and my dad want to come here and he scoops her up in his arms and he wants to give her a five second kiss, are you going to kick them out? Hell no.”

“If you want to kick me out I’ll leave, but the fact of the matter is that I have all this on film and I was discriminated against,” said Roper.

Roper proceeds to review a billboard containing the rules for the venue, observing no stipulation against public displays of affections, straight or otherwise.

The clip has since gone viral on Facebook and Youtube, with over 40,000 views, where Roper asks for support through sharing the video as much as possible.

Bearfoot Management have apologised to the couple in a statement, saying they “wanted to create a “family friendly environment…without discrimination of any sort” at its venues.

“Bearfoot Management and its employees are truly sorry for any actions that have occurred making the family involved in this incident feel they have been treated with any type of disrespect”, a spokesman said in a statement.

“We have reached out to the family and expressed our sincere regret for the incident that occurred.

“While we are in the business of pool management, our company takes it upon itself to try to mold the young adults and teens working for us to be responsible and caring adults to help improve the world around us.”

According to reports, the female pool attendant has since left the company.

See the confrontation below:

Words by TROY NANKERVIS.