Sam J.
Yelp
I visited the museum on 8/24 with my family, expecting an enjoyable experience, but instead, we were subjected to blatant discrimination and harassment by a volunteer security guard named David Keesling. After passing through ticketing and the main security checkpoint without any issues, we encountered David at the entrance to the ship. He immediately confronted me about my appearance, specifically my shirt, and demanded that I turn it inside out. When I asked to see the policy on clothing, he became increasingly aggressive, admitting that there was no written policy, meaning this was purely his personal opinion and discretion.
When I complied with his request and asked for directions to a restroom to change, David's behavior escalated. He got in my face and yelled, "Flip the shirt inside out or get THE FUCK OUT if you don't like it." He then called for backup, bringing in Bob Watkins, Jose Castillo, and Greg Giudice. Bob approached us with arrogance, crossing his arms and refusing to discuss the situation or provide any policy, simply stating that "if we don't like it, we can just get a refund and leave."
We decided to take the refund rather than support an establishment that allows such hate-fueled behavior. As we were walking out, these guards attempted to physically intimidate us by pushing my 50-year-old mother and telling her to "hurry up and keep walking." The situation was capped off with one of them making a political comment, saying they're "still going to win the election," revealing their MAGA-supporting bias. Supporting our suspicions that the encounter had NOTHING to do with my shirt, it was based off my appearance.
This experience was nothing short of a hate crime, rooted in their DISCRIMINATION against me as an openly gay person. I cannot recommend a place that allows such vile and discriminatory behavior to go unchecked. This kind of treatment is unacceptable, and I hope the museum takes serious action to address this incident.