Gay Couple Asked to Leave Mall for Holding Hands, Kissing

Carlos and I aren’t much for the PDA—Public Displays of Affection. I mean, while we lived in Miami, we would often hold hands while walking down Lincoln Road Mall or on the beach, but we weren’t big on kissing in public. I don’t like seeing anyone—straight or gay—doing it, unless it’s a quick peck as maybe a good bye smooch. Save the tongues for when you get home.

So, I was kinda of annoyed to learn about two gay men—Daniel Chesmore and Jose Guzman—who were asked to leave the Westfield Galleria in Roseville, California for doing just that. Not the tongues, but the pecking kind of kisses.

“I kissed him on the cheek. That’s how my boyfriend and I show affection,” said Daniel Chesmore.

And as they kissed—and, well, they say it was just a simple kiss—a security guard confronted them about kissing in public and they started recording the confrontation.

 “If you continue to kiss, you will be asked to leave the mall. Period,” the voice on the recording said. “I counted you guys kissing 25 times. I told you before, we contact any couple [...] about this.”

Chesmore and Guzman’s story caught the attention of Fox40, the local Fox affiliate, who sent their own cameras to the galleria. They filmed dozens of straight couples holding hands and kissing, yet not one was asked to leave. When they tried to speak to mall management, Galleria General Manager Eddie Ollmann would not comment in person, but released this written statement, “Persons that violate the Code of Conduct are asked to leave the property.”

Unfortunately, as FOX40 found, there is nothing in the mall’s code of conduct about public displays of affection.

“It makes me feel like no matter what I do in society, I will always be different.” Chesmore says.

 “I feel like we’re always treated differently because we’re gay. It makes me sad.” Guzman said.

Like I said, I am not big on kissing in public, other than the quick peck, but if you say you have rules against it, then shouldn’t the rules apply to everyone? I do have questions, though, like when the security guard said he counted them kissing twenty-five times; was that an exaggeration or were the two men sitting there kissing and kissing and kissing?

If that even makes a difference.

But then I also wonder how and why, as soon as the guard came over, the men were suddenly audio recording the confrontation. That seemed kind of planned to me, and if so, then the two men weren't just kissing, they were trying to provoke some confrontation.

That said, however, if the mall's Code of conduct says nothing about PDA then these men did nothing wrong. And, as you see on the videotape, the mall manager didn't even want to answer the questions, so, whether or not this was some planned two man kiss-in or not, the mall has some explaining to do.

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