ManilaStandardToday.com – Florante S. Solmerin
A Transvestite sued a restaurant in Makati yesterday for allegedly turning him away because he was dressed as a woman.
Standup comic Christopher Borja, more popularly known as Inday Garutay on television, filed his case before the Pasig City prosecutor?s office against Aruba Bar and Restaurant in the Metrowalk mall.
He claimed the restaurant violated the Civil Code when it turned him away and asked for P300,000 in damages.
Wearing the same dress he had worn on July 4, when he was allegedly asked to leave?a brown long-sleeved blouse, black tight-fitting trousers and shoes?Borja went to court accompanied by his lawyer and members of the Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network Philippines or Lagablab and the Anakbayan party-list group.
?It?s not about money; it?s about my rights,? Borja said.
?It is not about defending the right to wear a mini-skirt inside an establishment; it is about defending a legitimate life choice,? his lawyer, Jae de la Cruz, said.
Borja was already seated to attend a friend?s birthday party when the restaurant?s manager, Tintin Aguilar, allegedly approached him and asked him to leave around 6 p.m. because they didn?t allow cross-dressing.
?I want to teach them a lesson,? Borja said after filing his complaint.
?They should not be doing this to people like me.?
?The pink peso should not go where lesbians and gays are not wanted,? Lagablab secretary-general Jonas Bagas said.