A transgendered Florida city manager said claims she is offended by "men in dresses" stem from a misconstrued conversation she had with a bar owner.

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Lake Worth City Manager Susan Stanton, who was born Steve Stanton, said Loretta Lufty, owner of The Cottage restaurant and bar, allegedly misconstrued statements she made to make it seem like Stanton had spoken against the drag show tea dances hosted at the establishment, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported Thursday.

Lufty said she has collected 1,400 signatures on a petition against Stanton. She claims the city manager told her "men in dresses, and men dancing with men is offensive" and she would "suffer the consequences" unless she halted the tea dances. The petition accuses Stanton of abusing the city's noise ordinance to try to shut down the drag shows.

However, Stanton noted there have been no fines lodged against The Cottage under the noise ordinance and said Lufty misunderstood her words during a conversation about keeping the peace between downtown restaurants.

"I have never stated to anybody in my office that I'm offended with men in dresses -- certainly given the fact that I'm a transsexual," Stanton said this week during a city commission meeting.

The commission passed a resolution during the meeting reaffirming its support of equal rights for all residents, "regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."