A Walmart in Las Vegas refused a
woman's request for a cake that included the word “gay” for her
gay nephew who was attending his high school prom with his straight
friend.
A video of Jacob Lescenski, who is
straight, asking Anthony Martinez to prom went viral last week,
landing the friends on Ellen
DeGenere's talk show.
Lescenski told DeGeneres that he
decided to ask Martinez to the prom after reading on Twitter that his
friend did not have a date to the event. Lescenski's “promposal”
included a sign held up by friends which read, “You're hella gay,
I'm hella str8, but you're like my brother, so be my d8?”
Jennifer Sandoval, Martinez's aunt,
wanted to surprise her nephew with a cake, but Walmart said it could
not write “You're gay, he's straight, you're going to prom, you
couldn't have had a better date” on the cake because it included
the word “gay.” She ended up buying a cake which read “you
matter, prom kings.”
Sandoval told KVVU that two employees,
including a supervisor, told her that store policy prohibits use of
the word “gay.” A Walmart spokesperson told the station that
there is no such policy.
“It wasn't hurtful,” Sandoval
told KVVU. “It was to make my nephew happy, to see a smile on
his face. I love that smile. To see that smile, that's all I
wanted. And I'm disappointed. I really am.”