California just legalized gay marriage, but they might need to explicitly legalize gay slogan t-shirts too. Lapriss Gilbert, 31, was booted from the Social Security office in Van Nuys by a security guard who claimed he wasn’t allowed to let her in the government building because of her “Lesbian.com” t-shirt. Gilbert, who was simply there to pick up her son’s card, was threatened with arrest if she didn’t leave the premises. While Gilbert may have walked away quietly, she is speaking up for herself! “As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven’t been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination … but this is just shocking,” she told reporters. So, after the incident, she immediately did what any woman would do — she called her mom. Tanya Gilbert, a long time gay rights activist, got so upset by her daughter’s story, she immediately phoned in the LAPD on the “rent-a-cop” guard from the private company, Paragon, hired by Homeland Security. Luckily, before the four city police officers and a federal agent arrived, a fellow Paragon security guard saw the error of their ways and the officer escorted Lapriss Gilbert in. Even the ACLU is surprised — Peter Eliasberg, an attorney for the organization, said, “I haven’t seen this type of blatant discrimination in a federal office building before.” Guess that’s the good news. But the Gilberts are planning on filing a lawsuit against Paragon Security for their discrimination so this doesn’t ever happen again. [Daily News]
