Belgian Restaurant Apologizes for Alleged Transphobic Incident with Moroccan Influencer

"First of all, the management of the Drug Opera apologizes to Haron Zaanan if he may have interpreted the request made to him as humiliating and transphobic," the restaurant said in a statement, acknowledging that the term "inappropriate attire" used is subjective and can "be controversial".

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"We found ourselves on January 30 in an uncomfortable situation between having to respond to complaints from certain customers who indicated being disturbed by Haron Zaanan’s attire and not disrespecting the latter. Given the place, the time and the winter period, it did not appear shocking to us to estimate that Haron Zaanan’s attire was not appropriate and it seemed reasonable to us to invite him to remedy it," explained the restaurant managers.

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The management also denied the rumor relayed in some newspapers and on social networks, according to which Zaanan would have been "chased" from the restaurant. "We never ’chased’ Haron Zaanan from our establishment. We asked him, as politely as possible, to kindly adapt his outfit or, failing that, to leave the establishment. To our regret, he opted for the second proposal," the management specifies, promising to seek advice from UNIA to better manage such situations in the future.