Bar owner ends transgendered patron ban

Tom Anderson said Wednesday that he’s dropped his yearold ban on transgendered patrons from his Scottsdale nightclub and is relabeling one of his club’s restrooms as unisex to be usable by all patrons.

But Michele deLaFreniere, the transgendered woman who filed a discrimination complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office because of the ban, will still not be allowed into Anderson’s Fifth Estate, 6820 E. Fifth Ave., Anderson said. The attorney general’s investigation is ongoing.

“At this point in time, I’m treating Michele like any other person that’s been disruptive of my business,” Anderson said.

DeLaFreniere — who also sits as chairwoman of Scottsdale’s Human Relations Commission, which is tasked with examining civil rights issues — said she would drop her discrimination complaint if she gets a public apology from Anderson. She’s willing to be personally banned from the club, she said.

“If I get a public apology, I’ll withdraw the complaint,” deLaFreniere said. “He can ban me all he wants.”

Anderson said he had no comment on the offer.

Both sides said they would like to put the whole issue behind them.

Anderson said he banned transgendered people from the Fifth Estate in November 2006 after receiving dozens of complaints from female customers, who objected to having “men in dresses” using the women’s restroom. There also were problems with having transgendered people using the men’s restroom, because men harassed them and took their pictures, Anderson has said.

DeLaFreniere filed a discrimination complaint with the state in response to the ban.

Earlier this week, both sides rejected a proposed resolution brokered by the gay rights group Equality Arizona, said Sam Holdren, an Equality Arizona field organizer.

The proposal called for Anderson to allow transgendered people back in the club and designate a single-person, gender-neutral restroom accessible by all patrons. It also called on deLaFreniere to drop her complaint and accept being banned personally from the club, Holdren said.

Anderson said he was agreeable to the terms but would not sign anything on the advice of his lawyer because of the ongoing investigation. DeLaFreniere said she was initially unwilling to accept being personally banned.

Holdren said it’s often better to reach a negotiated solution than to have the state make a ruling.

“When the legal system determines something black and white, we don’t always find it’s a win/win situation,” he said. “Very often it’s a lose/lose situation.”