Man claims he was denied entry into club for wearing makeup, women’s clothing. Club offers much more context on the story.

A Texas man says that a Corpus Christi nightclub refused him entry because he was dressed up in women's clothing.

The nightclub, however, has a different recollection of the events.

What are the details?


The man, 22-year-old Ben Rios, told KIII-TV that he attempted to visit local nightclub VooDoo over the weekend, but his experience left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

Rios told the station that a bouncer told him that he couldn't come into the club because he wasn't adhering to the club's dress code.

"I was shocked," Rios admitted. "I couldn't believe what came out of his mouth."
Rios took to Facebook to air his grievances, and the post reportedly caught the attention of the club's manager. Rios said that the manager phoned him to express his apologies.

"[The manager] explained that's not how they conduct business," Rios said. "That's not what they stand for … you know he was saying he loves the LGBTQ community and he was just very apologetic."

Rios added that the manager didn't reveal any information as to why the bouncer would have turned him away from the door.
Rios went into detail about the incident in his Facebook post.

He wrote, "Last night was supposed to be a great time with great friends. It was far from it. Last night my friends and I decided to stop by local Corpus Christi 'hot spot' VooDoo Niteclub Corpus Christi. When I arrived, I was stopped at the door and DENIED entry for wearing makeup and wearing heels."

"I was denied entry," he insisted, "because I was 'out of dress code.' I had multiple first reactions, I was confused, shocked, and upset.
"I politely asked as to why I was out of dress code," he continued. "The door guy bluntly said, 'you're a man you're not supposed to be wearing women's clothing or makeup,' and simply turned their backs."

Rios explained that he would not drop the issue, and explained this very reason is why he took his story to the station, and Facebook.

"Treating members of the LGBTQ as anything less than equal is not okay!" he added.

So what did the club say about the incident?


VooDoo Niteclub Corpus Christi explained the incident in a Facebook post of its own.

The post explained that an incident that occurred earlier in the month reportedly triggered the bouncer to question Rios when he attempted to get through the nightclub's door.

The incident reportedly took place around St. Patrick's Day when two men wearing women's clothing and makeup entered the club and used the women's restroom.
According to women in the restroom, the two men were reportedly filming women without their consent. Club managers attempted to look for the two men in question, but had apparently left the club by that time. The post also explained that a bouncer detained two people over the weekend who matched the description of the men. The club's statement did not specifically mention Rios in the post.

The bouncer reportedly called the manager to see if these were the two men from the previous weekend, but the two men left before the manager could arrive.

The post insisted, "The reason they were stopped at the door is because they matched the description. However, on the same night, we had many customers dressed with make-up and we let them in."

"We welcome every customer," the post added. "We do not support any homophobic action in denying our customers entry. We welcome with open arms every race and we welcome anyone regardless of their gender based clothing."


Did Rios say anything else?

Rios told the station that the manager did not speak to him about the St. Patrick's Day incident at all when he had him on the phone.

"If he had been honest about the story that apparently happened on St. Paddy's day weekend, maybe I would have been understanding," Rios said. "But you can't profile somebody for looking the way you look."

The manager, Albert Cantu, told the outlet that it was a misunderstanding. 
"One person made the wrong decision," Cantu said. "It was just a total, total misunderstanding."
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