A woman was told she couldn't kiss her friend at a concert, so she invited the usher who separated them to dinner
A woman was attending a White Stripes concert when she was told by an employee that she wasn’t allowed to kiss her female friend — but her reaction to the usher may surprise you.
Allyson MacIvor, a professional musician who has performed with Sarah McLachlan and works with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, was caught up in the moment while listening to the song “Seven Nation Army” on Friday night at Rogers Place, a concert venue in Edmonton, Canada.
She and her female friend shared a kiss during the song and were then quickly approached by an usher. “During the final encore, one of my [favorite] songs of all time, I grabbed my friend, and kissed her .. .a fun moment on a beautiful night,” MacIvor shared on Facebook.
According to her post, the female employee waved her finger at the two friends and said, “That’s not allowed here.”
“I looked at her with the most shocked, dumbfounded look, and clarified, ‘You mean kiss her? I’m not allowed to kiss her here? Is that what you mean?’ … She again said, ‘Yes, and if you have a problem with that you can speak to my manager.'”
According to CBC, the usher even placed her hand between the couple to separate them. “It was very violating and invasive,” MacIvor told the outlet. “It’s not something I’d ever imagine experiencing, honestly.”
The usher took the two women to the manager’s office, where the manager dismissed the usher back to her post and then apologized to the two women.
“I wrote an incident report, with tears in my eyes, realizing we still live in a world where I have to watch my back as a ‘gay’ woman, and apparently, I still have to watch whom I kiss, even at Rogers Place,” MacIvor wrote.
MacIvor had never come out publicly before, but she felt she needed to when she wrote about her experience on Facebook, which she uses as a professional platform to share pictures of performances and gigs.
“I always hesitated to [come out on social media], and this was actually the first time that I announced to the world that I was gay,” she told CBC.
MacIvor has received apologies from both Rogers Place and the Oilers Entertainment Group, which operates the venue. Jack White of the White Stripes even dedicated “Love Interruption” to her and her friend at his Calgary concert. MacIvor and her friend were offered a free concert and dinner to make up for the incident. However, MacIvor wanted something more.
She told the CBC she wants the usher who separated her and her friend to be invited along as well.
“I would love to get to know this employee on a more personal and deeper level than the events that just happened… So hopefully we’ll go out for dinner and have an amazing time. This employee and I can just get to know each other as people and move past this in a healthier way.”
She is still waiting to hear whether the employee has accepted her invitation.
MacIvor did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment.
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