On Monday, January 27th, after Gina had clocked out of her karaoke hosting shift and was saying her goodbyes to staff and patrons, one customer walked by and said "Who's this fat, black b*tch? Precious?" What followed was an evening marked by tension and conflict, which could have easily been avoided had the customer followed everyone's advice and went home. Instead, he approached those offering support and solidarity for Gina and said "You wanna fight me? Let's fight!" Further escalating the situation and provoking the violence which later ensued. While Gina was willing to let it pass on, and turned towards her house, she saw behind her that fists were being thrown and, since the crowd was acting in her defense and honor, she felt compelled to return to the scene to try to break it up and insist that everyone disperse. She was met with a shoe thrown at her by the aggressive customer, so regrettably she did retaliate by hitting the grossly outnumbered young man a few times. She regrets that the whole ordeal ended as violently as it did. In fact, if she could go back in time, she would take it all back and just go home when she said she would. No one is excusing the event as it occurred, and all involved accept that it could have been handled better. However, the following day resulted in a devastating outcome for Gina. Although she had clocked out and was no longer inside her place of employment, Charlie's Nightclub in Denver, CO, she and supportive staff were still on the property in the parking lot and the entire incident was recorded on surveillance camera. As a result, she and the staff employees who threw the first punch were terminated. Being a loyal staff and cast member at Charlie's was a dream come true for her, and she was only just beginning to build a fanbase and feel truly at home with her drag sisters since joining cast in September. The purpose of this petition is simply an appeal to management at Charlie's: to please reconsider hiring Gina back with a warning, or to allow her some time off as she had never been issued a suspension or a write-up; and that we, the undersigned, believe she deserves a second chance. Other queens would willingly pack up and find some other venue to work at. She doesn't want to have to do that, because she truly loves and believes in Charlie's with all her heart. She, and her Denver fans, just want her to come home.
