An elected Democrat in Kansas’s second most populous county, who promoted information from the pro-abortion “Vote No” campaign, was kicked out of a local gay bar over the weekend after the bartender accused her of using a racist name against his employee. Now, XY bar owner Chad Porter says he will support her Republican opponent in November’s election.
Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse visited the gay bar in Wichita, Kansas on Saturday night after “having a few alcoholic drinks” at a separate awards ceremony, the Wichita Eagle reported. She would be permanently banned for alleged racism after ordering her first drink at the XY bar.
Most versions of the incident agree that Cruse ordered an alcoholic beverage from a black bartender who had previous, negative experiences with Cruse. After receiving her beverage, Cruse asked for the bartender’s name. The bartender declined to give her name to the government official, so Cruse offered a nickname to the woman instead.
That nickname, per the Eagle, is “Shaquetta,” “Chiquita,” or, according to Cruse, “‘Sheena’ – as in, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, a leopard-skin-bikini wearing white woman comic book character from the 1930s.” Whatever the nickname, the bartender took offense.
Cruse defended the nickname as “fierce,” not racist, but the bartender called it “racist as [expletive]” and the Democrat was ejected from the bar by security and permanently banned from the premises. It’s alleged this was the third time Cruse has been ejected from the gay bar.
The bar owner said the commissioner is no longer welcome at the drinking establishment. https://t.co/78U3jsTxQE
— kansasdotcom (@kansasdotcom) August 25, 2022
Since the incident occurred, Cruse met with XY bar owner Chad Porter and a reporter from the Eagle in an attempt to ameliorate the situation. Both parties agree the attempt resulted in failure.
Cruse, who voted to lock down bars and nightclubs during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to support social distancing and mask restrictions well into 2021, claimed that Porter and the bartender are holding a grudge stemming from her lockdown vote.
Porter denied this, but the gay bar owner told the Eagle he’s now voting Republican, at least in Cruse’s race.
“I didn’t agree with her on the COVID deal,” Porter told the local newspaper. “But this isn’t politically motivated. I’m a Democrat. She’s a Democrat. I have supported Democrats my entire life. This is me trying to protect my employees and customers — they shouldn’t be treated with disrespect.” The Eagle reports that Porter will now “back Cruse’s Republican opponent, Ryan Baty.”
I didn’t screenshot the worst parts but this whole situation sounds very bad https://t.co/o1iZHFTYFu pic.twitter.com/xY2t2Noyaz
— Calvinism Achieved (@GoshDangAmerica) August 25, 2022
“I don’t think she’s the right person for that position, given how she treated my employee,” he told the paper. Porter called for Cruse to resign, but the Democrat refused.
In a lengthy statement on Facebook, Cruse wrote that she understands “an individual was negatively impacted by a miscommunication that took place in the middle of a loud establishment over the weekend.” While Cruse wrote that she takes “full responsibility for this misunderstanding,” she claimed that Porter was not operating in good faith.
“Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that this conversation was not going to be as productive as I had hoped,” wrote Cruse. “I was also accused me of several blatant falsehoods, including supporting the white power movement.”
“I don’t know what his motives are but it does not appear the goal was to have an open discussion and genuinely work towards a resolution.” She concluded, “I am always trying to learn more and do better.”
Local conservative talk radio host John Whitmer chimed in on the incident, originally sharing the Eagle article with the caption “No words, just WOW!”
In a later post, Whitmer wrote, “make no mistake about one thing, if a Republican had said that, some would ALREADY be calling for her resignation!”
Responding to Cruse’s statement, Whitmer wrote, “
Cruse’s pro-abortion activism raised eyebrows among other commission members, who some say misrepresented the state’s recent abortion vote to her constituents. The commission later sent its own newsletter with her name and photo, drawing the ire of another Eagle columnist and provoking accusations of censorship.
She also promoted the “Vote No” campaign on her Twitter account.
Public health is already suffering. By removing a person’s right to choose, we are effectively creating another Public Health crisis.
Thank you to Susan Osborne and @devindwyer of @ABC for covering this story. VOTE NO Kansas! https://t.co/276iseFCqy— Lacey Cruse (@laceycruse) August 2, 2022
Kansas voters ultimately voted to preserve the constitutional right to an abortion, though both sides were accused of spreading misinformation regarding the vote.
