Bowling Alley Operators Deny Telling Gay Couple They Are “Not A Family”

Earlier this week, we told you of a Dallas Voice report about a gay couple who claimed they were asked to leave a bowling alley because they allegedly did not fit the alley’s definition of a family. The company that owns this venue says it has a very different version of events.

According to a statement from Main Event Entertainment, the results of its own internal investigation — using “video footage, register transactions, and employee interviews” — found these claims to be “blatantly false.”

Main Event doesn’t dispute the couple’s claim that a child in the neighboring lane was straying over into their lane. However, it says that the men used inappropriate language, including profanity and racial slurs — directed both at the children in that lane and at bowling alley staff when they asked to be moved to another lane.

With regards to the couple’s allegation that an alley employee told the men that they were “not family,” Main Event contends:

The guests were told that Main Event is a family entertainment venue in order to explain why there was children and to minimize the use of profanity, and at that time it would not be possible to accommodate their special request to be isolated from children.

The company, which says it welcomes and employes members of the LGBT community, claims that “management and staff made every effort to accommodate the guests’ needs,” including providing them with a refund.

In an update posted today by the Voice, one of the men does admit to telling an alley employee that “This is f-ing ridiculous” during the “heated” discussion about changing lanes. His partner tells the Voice that he then stepped in, apologized and spoke to the employee in a calm manner.

He claims that the employee did in fact make the statement that the couple was not considered a family and that the employee would not respond to questions asking for an explanation of why the couple would not be labeled as a family.

As for Main Event’s allegations that the men were using racial slurs, they tell the Voice, “absolutely not,” adding, “We’re an interracial couple.”

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