Transgender woman asked to leave bar blasts Tempe ruling on discrimination complaint

A transgender woman blasted a Tempe Diversity Office ruling that she was not discriminated against when she was asked to leave a bar and vowed to file an appeal on Monday.

Briana Sandy condemned the process used by the Diversity Office in investigating her complaint as "terribly flawed'' and said the ruling assassinated her character by including that she had been a customer at Modern World, an adult bookstore located next to the Tempe Tavern.

"I'm going to be clearing my name, and I'm going to be clearing the air,'' Sandy said Friday afternoon. "I was totally hung out to dry.''

Nikki Ripley, a Tempe spokeswoman, said either party has a right to appeal rulings by the Diversity Office on discrimination complaints.

"The city stands by the investigation and findings,'' Ripley said.

Officials said they found no evidence that Sandy was asked to leave Tempe Tavern, 1810 E. Apache Blvd., on June 6 because she is transgender, as Sandy alleged in her complaint against the bar.

Bar employees told investigators that they thought they recognized Sandy as a prostitute who operated out of Modern World, according to the investigation.

The investigative summary released Friday by the city said the bartender told the cook, "I think that is one of the people that hooks at the bookstore.''

The cook then told Sandy she had to leave. Sandy told officials she had ordered a soda and had wanted to watch the Belmont Stakes horse race while her car was being fixed nearby.

"The investigation revealed that Ms. Sandy was asked to leave Tempe Tavern based on her assumed connection to Modern World and not because she is transgender woman,'' the summary said. "All witnesses consistently reported that Ms. Sandy was told, 'I am sorry, we cannot serve you,' as opposed to 'we don't serve your kind,' " as Sandy alleged.

The investigation said that Rob Tasso, owner of Tempe Tavern, has a practice of not serving patrons of Modern World and that Sandy confirmed she patronized the book store within the past year.

"A refusal of service for this reason does not constitute a violation'' of Tempe's discrimination ordinance, according to the summary.

Sandy's complaint was the first to be filed since the Tempe City Council approved and adopted an anti-discrimination ordinance in February 2014. The ordinance makes it illegal to discriminate against a person based on their gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, among several other characteristics.

Sandy said she has visited the bookstore as a man and a woman. She also insists she never prostituted herself in any manner and is upset with the report's depiction of her character.

"It was offensive. There was no reason to include that information,'' Sandy said.

She said it appeared to her that the Tavern's employees had no problem with her until she opened her mouth, and that her voice gave away that she is transgender.

"I can guarantee you this: I will use 100 percent of my efforts to dissuade anyone from the LGBT community from filing a complaint with the city of Tempe Diversity Office,'' Sandy said.

Earlier this year, Sandy told a reporter for The Arizona Republic that she was previously known as Brian Theodore Sandy until she realized nearly two years ago that she was a woman. She had been a son, father, a husband and an ex-husband during earlier stages of her life.

At that point, she began the process of medical transition to create a body to match the woman inside.