Queer waiter given chilling warning to ‘get out of America’ on his $5 tip. And, yes, of course it was from a Trump supporter
The $5 bill was defaced with a homophobic slur (Facebook/Ashton Thayne Bindrup)
A Utah waiter was shocked to find a homophobic slur scrawled on a $5 tip from a table of Trump supporters, along with a warning to “Get out of America”.
Ashton Bindrup works at a restaurant in Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City. On Saturday he served an older couple and their middle-aged son, all of whom were wearing “Trump 2020” hats.
Shortly before they left they asked Bindrup for a pen – and when he picked up the $5 bill, he saw why.
“Get out of America, fag!” it read in childlike handwriting, scrawled over the image of the Lincoln Memorial.
“I picked it up and was immediately like, ‘Oh, this is written on my tip,'” Bindrup told Fox 13. “It’s shocking. It’s not OK.”
After the encounter he posted a picture of the homophobic bill to Facebook, along with a message to other Trump supporters: “This post is for you.”
“Today I experienced targeted hate. Hate that I often see in the Trump constituency. And it’s a reality that needs to be faced,” he wrote.
“I can’t imagine hating someone enough to go out of my way to write a slur on the tip I’m going to give them… What I can easily imagine, however, is that these three Trump supporters have (probably recently) been in contact with other Trump 2020 supporters. Other people who clearly shared similar beliefs.
“But why didn’t anyone ask them about hate? Why didn’t any of their friends talk to them about discrimination? What DID they talk about?
“And is it possible that any of those conversations – perhaps about don’t ask don’t tell, or marriage equality, or job security – led to the impression that there is a mutual hate in the Trump constituency toward people like me?”
Bindrup acknowledged that not all Trump supporters are homophobic, but says they all “have a responsibility to help check the hate and the anger” they see in other like-minded Republicans.
His post quickly gained traction online, but the homophobes are unlikely to face consequences as Utah laws only consider written speech to be a punishable offence if there is a threat of violence.
Defacing a bill is technically punishable by up to six months in jail, but Bindrup said he’s not chasing a conviction.
“I wish that they had said it to my face,” he said. “I’m not quick to anger or quick to be offended, but I don’t know… You have to think about that kind of hate. You have to wonder, ‘How does someone get to that point?'”
