KTEN – TV: One mom left a store in Denison, Texas on Saturday when a clerk criticized her five-year-old daughter for wanting to wear a boy’s suit to celebrate Easter.
“She’s a tomboy,” Jennifer Giordano said of her daughter Maddie. “She’s preferred to dress in boys clothes since she was about three years old.”
Mother and daughter were shopping at the store, Martha’s Miniatures, a clothing store filled with frilly dresses. Maddie’s mom explained she wasn’t surprised when her daughter picked out what is considered to be a traditional boy’s suit. When the store clerk saw the suit would be worn by a little girl, Giordano says the clerk’s reaction was negative and caused Maddie to cry.
“The woman’s face was just a face of disgust,” Giordano said. “She told me that I was promoting wrong behavior – that parents should not let their children choose the way that they dress if it’s cross-gendered.”
Giordano was so upset by the clerks reaction and discriminatory practices, she posted about it on her Facebook page. Friends responded by giving the store one-star reviews.
Martha’s Miniatures also posted to their Facebook page confirming the bigotry:
The store’s Facebook Page has since been removed and the website says it’s closed for maintenance. Reporters from KTEN-TV went to the store and say it was closed during its usual posted hours and multiple phone calls have gone unanswered.
Austin, Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth all have ordinances against business discrimination, but that is not the case in Grayson County. Attorney Bobbie Peterson-Cate said, “It depends on what they’re refusing the service for. For sexual orientation, no, it is not illegal.”
Maybe it’s legal to be a bigot in Grayson County, but it isn’t necessarily good for business. Giordano said the store didn’t technically refuse service, because she wasn’t going to purchase anything after the exchange.
“People don’t need to pick on little kids for what they’re wearing,” Giordano said.
Giordano left the store with her crying daughter and said she took her business to JC Penny where they purchased an Easter Suit to Maddie’s liking.
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