Who is Drew Droege? El Compadre Echo Park homophobia controversy explained

American actor and comedian Drew Droege accused a Los Angeles-based restaurant of its homophobic behavior.

On Tuesday, December 13, the 45-year-old personality took to his Instagram handle to share an awful incident that happened at Echo Park's Mexican restaurant El Compadre while he was visiting with his date.

Drew stated that after finishing up the drinks, he and his date were cuddling and kissing, which ultimately got objectified by the staffers stating that it's a "family restaurant," a classic case of homophobia.

The comic shared that he and his date were "shocked" by the incident and spent the rest of their time in the parking lot.

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All you need to know about Drew Droege and the details of his shocking incident

Born on February 9, 1977, Drew Droege is a native of Columbia, South Carolina. According to his website, he graduated from Los Angeles' The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade theaters and performs there regularly.

The 45-year-old is best known for his parody videos starring as Chloë Sevigny. He has been featured in The Advocate, OUT magazine's Out 100, Entertainment Weekly, TimeOut New York, and Marc Jacobs' 2016 Spring campaign.

Some of his acting credits include Heathers, Search Party, Bob's Burgers, Gloop World, Cocktails And Classics, Now Apocalypse, Life In Pieces, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Ideal Home, The Disgustings, Not Looking, and Planet Unicorn, among others.

After the awful incident at El Compadre, Drew Droege described it in a lengthy Instagram post.

While Droege stated that the food and server "were both great," he and his date experienced a "really sad, disgusting, hateful moment in the middle." The comic shared that he paid the cheque and had some time before catching a show downtown, after which things took a turn.

"Finishing up our second drinks, we had our arms around each other and kissed a few times. A manager approached our table and said something to the affect of, 'you guys can’t do that here.' We were confused at first, but then he very firmly stated, 'this is a family restaurant.'"

Drew asked if any other customers complained about their behavior since they were surrounded by "happy straight couples eating, laughing, doing the same thing we were doing."

"He [The manager] threw his hands in front of us and said, 'I don’t care if you’re the President of the United States, we don’t allow your behavior here.' We promptly got up and left. We were genuinely shocked. In 2022. In Echo Park, CA. At 6:30pm on a Monday."

In the post, Drew Droege also pointed out the effect such situations have on gay people.

"Ever wonder why gay people often seem nervous? Why do we walk faster? Why do we work so hard to please others and be good little citizens in this world?"

Drew Droege said he would never visit that place again and urged his followers to do the same.

Soon after, the restaurant chain issued a lengthy apology in a now-deleted post on its Instagram handle, stating that they are investigating the matter and "stand with the LGBTQ community and hold no space for intolerance."