A Sonic Drive-In manager is being accused of being transphobic and discrimination after he and other staff members at an outlet in Houston, Texas, referred to a trans woman as sir because of her name on her credit card.
In a two-part video that has gone viral on social media, Eden Torres, a trans activist claims she was subjected to transphobia after she placed her order at the fast-food restaurant and handed her credit card to the employee, who made a conscious decision to call her "sir."
'What About Me Looks Like a Sir?'
The clip starts off with Torres telling the manager that the restaurant's staff members referred to her as "sir."
Torres asks, "What about me looks like a 'sir' right now?"
The manager asks Torres to park her vehicle to the side before apologizing to Torres for his employee's actions. He then tries to defend his employee's actions by asking Torres, "What do you want them to tell you?"
"That has nothing to do with it" Torres replies, as she points out that the card could have belonged to someone else and accuses the staff members of discriminating against her.
The manager responds by saying that the restaurant has employees that are gay before Torres points out to him that they're talking about gender identity and not sexuality. Watch part 1 of the video below:
'Is Your Name on the Credit Card a Feminine Name?'
"Is the name on your name on the credit card a feminine name?" the manager asks in the second part of the video.
"No," Torres replies.
"Exactly!" the manager continues. "Then they're not discriminating against you."
"What are you?" the manager asks as he continues arguing with Torres through the front passenger-side window of her vehicle. "So I can call you sir or ma'am."
Torres retorts with, "What would you assume looking at me?"
"I assume that you're a man," the manager answers before Torres turns the camera around to reveal herself.
Watch part 2 below:
Sonic Releases Statement, Says Incident 'Under Investigation'
The video has since gone viral on TikTok with more than a million views on the platform. After the video went viral, Sonic Drive-In's official Twitter handle tweeted out a statement saying that the company had a strict "anti-discrimination policy" and had launched an investigation into the incident.
"We have a strict anti-discrimination policy and take these situations seriously. We did launch an immediate investigation and contact the guest directly about her experience," the company wrote.
