3 Thomsenzee, “All Out Politics: Exclusive Interview with Gloria Allred (Part One),” FourTwoNine, August 8, 2013, fourtwonine.com/2013/08/08/2804-all-out-politics- exclusive-interview-with-gloria-allred-part-one/. 15 Background for Deborah Johnson and Zandra Rolón Part I: The Incident On January 13, 1983, Deborah Johnson and Zandra Rolón, two LGBT civil rights activists, went to Papa Choux, a restaurant in Los Angeles, for a romantic dinner. Little did they know that their desire to dine in one of Papa Choux’s six booths would lead to a landmark civil rights case. After being seated at the table they had reserved, they were told that they needed to move from the semi-private booth because they were a lesbian couple. Johnson and Rolón initially refused to give up their seats. When forced to leave, they took the names of everyone involved, and soon contacted attorney Gloria Allred. Allred, a well-known civil rights attorney, researched the merits of the case and agreed to sign on. The case was front-page news in Los Angeles for several weeks and became a media spectacle. Attorney Gloria Allred described the case in this way: “The first case that I can remember that I did was that Papa Choux case. Papa Choux was a fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles. My clients were an African American woman and her Latina partner. They were both businesswomen; made a reservation to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday. And, in the Papa Choux restaurant, they had a special section for romantic dining. Patrons would walk up a few steps into a special section, which was a semicircle of booths with sheer curtains. Violinists would come by and play the violins; you could close the curtains and, you know, dine in semi-privacy and kiss or have your wine. They made a reserva- tion for the booths and were seated there at first, but then told by the man- ager that they could sit anywhere in the restaurant but there. And they were told one of the reasons was because it was for couples only. And they said, ‘Well, what are we?’ We’re not chopped liver; we’re a couple. Then they said that it was a house policy that no one could sit in that section unless they were a couple.” 3 Papa Choux newspaper ad, June 24, 1983.