New Jersey waitress and ex-marine denied tip because of ‘gay lifestyle’

A server at a New Jersey restaurant claims she was unfairly denied a tip on Wednesday night because she is gay.

"I'm sorry but I cannot tip because I don't agree with your lifestyle and how you live your life," reads the receipt posted to the non-profit group Have A Gay Day's Facebook page.

Dayna Morales, a former U.S. Marine, says she was shocked when she picked up the family's $93.55 receipt after they left the Gallop Asian Bistro in Bridgewater, N.J. In the area of the receipt left blank for customers to mark a tip, this family instead chose to write the offensive message.

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Morales suspected the family was homophobic from the minute she took their order -- when she first approached the couple and their two small children, she was greeted with a disparaging remark.

“I introduce myself and tell them my name is Dayna,” she says. “The mom proceeds to look at me and say, “oh I thought you were gonna say your name is Dan. You sure surprised us!’”

Morales says she proceeded to serve the family their meal without trouble, but their note on the receipt particularly upset her and prompted her to send a photo of the receipt to the Have A Gay Day blog.

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"I was rather offended, mad," Morales tells ABC of the incident. "I didn't know how to react to that. I never thought that would ever happen."

The restaurant manager says the company is proud of how Morales handled the situation.

"We don't tolerate discrimination of any kind. Those customers are not welcome here," the manager tells NBC. "We support Dayna 100 per cent. She's a wonderful person and a wonderful server, and we are extremely proud of her and the way she handled this situation."

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Unfortunately, this is one of many incidents in recent months regarding a server who has been denied a tip on account of their presumed sexual orientation or ethnicity.

Last month, a server in Kansas was treated to an anti-gay message on a receipt in lieu of a tip.

And this September, a Red Lobster server in Tennessee says she received a racial slur on a family receipt in lieu of a tip.