SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco restaurant found itself the target of angry online comments after hosting a fundraising event for the local Republican Party that reportedly featured speakers who criticized the transgender community.
Now, the North Beach restaurant at the center of the backlash is speaking up and saying it had no idea when it booked the catering gig that there would be a crowd with views hostile to transgender people.
"As a company, we do not endorse any of the talking points addressed. We take full accountability for catering this event without knowing its true intentions," American Bites' statement read. "In hindsight, had we known the true nature of this event, we never would have allowed it to take place."
Soleil Ho, a San Francisco Chronicle opinion columnist, detailed how the event fanned out May 11 at American Bites.
The San Francisco Republican Party billed the event as a "Parental Rights Night," but did not disclose the location until after purchasing a ticket, according to Ho.
The GOP chapter said the event was to untangle "the transgender narrative surrounding our children." The featured speakers included Erin Friday, a San Francisco attorney who spoke about rescuing her child from "transgenderism"; and someone who formerly identified as transgender, Ho said.
Ho wrote that attendees spewed anti-trans conspiracy theories and, at one point, displayed the social media accounts of transgender youth on a big screen while yelling slurs.
The restaurant was bombarded with 1-star reviews on Yelp, as SF Eater pointed out. Yelp later disabled posting to the business page as it investigated recent reviews to ensure they reflected actual experiences rather than recent events.
"Going forward we will change the event booking process to ensure alignment with our company's values of diversity and inclusion, and prevent a reoccurrence of this mistake," American Bites said Thursday in its statement.
The San Francisco Republican Party has not yet responded to KTVU's request for comment.