Moriarty’s under fire following a job posting for a ‘biologically male’ bartender

Moriarty’s Restaurant and Bar in Midtown Village is under fire from city officials and LGBTQIA groups after a discriminatory and transphobic help wanted ad in its name appeared on Craigslist.

The Jan. 24 listing, which has since been taken down, advertised an opening for a “Male Bartender (Center-City Philadelphia)” at Moriarty’s. Under qualifications, skills, and requirements, it said: “Must be biologically male.”

“This is extremely problematic and absolutely transphobic,” said Celena Morrison, executive director of the city’s office of LGBT Affairs, about the ad first flagged online by customers and LGBTQIA advocates. “There are laws that say it’s illegal for employers to make decisions based on a person’s race, religion, gender, or sexual identity. This is the kind of thing that fuels a culture of people facing unfair treatment.”

Morrison said her office will be reporting the posting to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.

“We cannot send a message that this is OK,” she said. “That’s not how we operate in Philadelphia.”

Moriarty’s management did not return several calls for comment. Housed in a historic, red-brick building steps from the Forrest Theatre, Moriarty’s has long been a staple of the Midtown bar scene. Its current owner, John Ferry, bought the pub in 1974. His wife and son help run it.

The pub’s location is just blocks from the heart of the Gayborhood.

“My first thought was ‘what the hell are they thinking?’ ” said Deja Lynn Alvarez, deputy director of World Health Care Infrastructures and the first openly transgender woman to run for City Council. “There are very few places where LGBTQIA people can feel safe and Center City is one of these places. To have this pop up in Center City is definitely distressing.”

Councilmember Rue Landau, the commission’s longtime director, and first openly LGBTQIA person to serve on City Council, said the job posting was in “clear violation of the Fair Practices Ordinance.” The city ordinance offers protections against unlawful employment practices. Violators can face fines, training, and compensatory damages.

“I am confident it will be an easy, open and shut case,” Landau said, of a potential investigation.

The commission was unfamiliar with the ad and could not comment directly on it, said Saterria Kersey, a spokesperson. But she added that soliciting employment based solely on gender violates the Fair Practices Ordinance, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Eric Meyer, a Philadelphia-based attorney, who handles employment practice law, said if the pub actually acted on the job posting, it would be violating federal, state, and city anti- discrimination laws, including the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. In 2018, the act was amended to include gender identity and expression as a protected class.

Employers can seek out candidates of specific gender in limited situations, he said. But only when being of a particular sex is a “bona fide occupational requirement.” Tending bar is not one of those situations, he said.

“What you can’t do is hire based on sex to appeal to the preferences of coworkers or employers or customers or clients,” he said. “You can’t hire an individual based on the stereotypical characteristics of sex.”

David Weisberg, a spokesperson for the Mazzoni Center, which provides health and legal services to the LGBTQIA community, said the center was happy to see the ad had been taken down.

“We hope they would refrain from any future discriminatory job requirements,” he said.

The job posting described a part-time job with “potential to become something greater.” Moriarty’s bartenders typically average between $20-$45 per hour, the listing said. Besides being biologically male, all candidates would be required “to communicate and understand our guests’ predominant language(s).” Prior bartending experience, it added, would be a “plus.”

Alvarez said some online are calling for protests and sit-ins at the bar. First, she wants to have a conversation — to figure out how the posting could even happen.

“How could a restaurant that is still considered to be in the Gayborhood still think this was OK?” she asked.