‘You have to go’: Gay pub kicks man out for wearing Donald Trump cap

The man wants an apology from the pub amid claims there was no “legitimate reason” to be asked to leave.

A man who was kicked out of a queer pub for wearing a Donald Trump hat has asked for an apology, claiming there was no “legitimate reason” for being asked to leave the Brisbane pub.

Robert Holt was at The Wickham in Fortitude Valley with his family for a Halloween event on Sunday when he was asked to leave.

He told Sky News that he had been at the venue for a couple of hours when a staff member from behind the bar approached him and asked if he was leaving.

When he asked why, Mr Holt said the staff member said it was because of his Trump hat, which said “TRUMP 2024”.

“People around here don’t feel safe with people wearing items of (Trump-branded) clothing coming into this pub,” the staff member reportedly told Mr Holt, before telling him “you have to go”.

Mr Holt said he “could understand if (the hat) had some offensive language” or a “rude gesture” on it, but “it didn’t have anything like that”.

Robert Holt with an ‘All Lives Matter’ shirt. Picture: Supplied.

He claimed he would have removed the hat had he been asked, but added the staff member “didn’t have a legitimate reason” to ask him to leave.

“I wasn’t angry, it was more frustrating and confusing at the time because she didn’t have a legitimate reason in my eyes,” Mr Holt said.

“If she had to come up to me and said to me, ‘Hey, look, there are some people in here who might be a little bit upset with your hat … would you mind just taking it off?’

“I still would have asked her a question (about) why and so on, but (I would have taken it off).”

He told Sky News that he wanted an apology from the venue.

“I’d like if they got in contact and just said that it was all a mistake or something like that,” he said.

“It’d be good just to hear back from them, but, you know, that’s their choice.”

Mr Holt was asked to leave for wearing a Donald Trump hat. Picture: Angela Weiss / AFP

He also told 9News that he didn’t want his six-year-old daughter to “see her father being kicked out of an establishment for what I deem to be no reason”.

Mr Holt also wore an “All Lives Matter” shirt in 2020, according to his Facebook page, that appears to be in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which aims to address police brutality against people of colour and racial inequality.

The movement began following the 2012 death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot while on his way home by community neighbourhood watch member George Zimmerman, who said Mr Martin looked suspicious.

Mr Zimmerman was later acquitted of second-degree murder.

The 2020 death of George Floyd also threw the movement into global attention.

Mr Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis after his neck was pinned by Chauvin’s knee for more than eight minutes.

Mr Floyd’s death sparked protests across both the US and the world; however, the conservative countermovement “All Lives Matter” was also formed.

NewsWire has contacted Mr Holt and The Wickham for comment.

Originally published as ‘You have to go’: Gay pub kicks man out for wearing Donald Trump cap