This week’s Metro Weekly reports some disturbing news that a gay couple was kicked out of a local Rite Aid pharmacy without reason.

Jay Hill and Mike Browne went into the store at 13th and U streets NW last Friday to make a purchase, and they embraced as they browsed an aisle. Hill told MW the manager walked by, saw them and did a double take. The manager then asked the security guard on duty to get them to leave. When Hill asked the guard why they were asked to leave, the guard said, “I don’t know, that’s just what the manager said. This is private property so y’all got to go.”

Howard University art professor Raymond Dobard witnessed the incident and got the manager’s name, which is Denny Getachew. Dobard is a friend of the couple and had dinner with them earlier that evening; the three of them believe Hill and Browne were asked to leave because of their gay public display of affection.

Getachew refused to comment on the story, and the security guard only spoke anonymously to MW, saying he didn’t know why the manager ordered him to remove Browne and Hill. Rite Aid’s corporate headquarters has yet to issue a formal statement.

Image courtesy Metro Weekly