LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Deputies haven’t caught the vandals who spray painted a Tavares bar with heterosexist slurs last week, but members of the community have helped to repair it.
Joe Gertis leases Irene's Restaurant & Lounge near Tavares. He said rumors have swirled that the restaurant has turned into a gay bar, rumors that have hurt business and now damaged it, too.
In addition to the spray painted slurs, yellow paint was splashed all over the bar, Gertis said.
Edwin Hernandez, a neighboring business owner, said he was shocked by the hateful message.
"I thought it was actually Halloween stuff,” Hernandez said.
But once word spread, people throughout the community decided to do something about it. Many showed up to the bar to clean it up.
"The next thing I know, a bunch of people started coming in and started painting and scraping all the stuff out,” Hernandez said. “I was like ‘Wow, there is actually good people out there.’"
Because the community helped to repair the damage, Gertis chose to not file a report, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
WFTV
