Houston Landscaper Won't Work for Gays
In Houston, a landscaper specifically told a gay man that he wouldn't work for him simply because he is gay. Houston's anti-discrimination ordinances don't cover sexual orientation, so this appears to have been a legal decision. Supporters applaud what the Garden Guy has done, comparing gays to child molesters and murders in order to argue that it's appropriate for businesses to refuse to serve people who engage in disgusting behavior.
An e-mail from Sabrina Farber, with the Garden Guy Inc., said she could not meet with Lord because the company chooses not to work for homosexuals. ... "We meant to uphold our right as a small-business owner to choose who our clients are. We are humbly sorry for the hurt that it has caused," Farber said. ...
Some are defending the couple's decision. The American Family Association issued the following statement.
"Todd, like millions of Americans, obviously has a moral conviction based on his religious beliefs against homosexual behavior and that lifestyle. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that."
Source: Click2Houston
The Houston Chronicle has the original email:
"Subject: Cancel Appt - Garden Guy
"Dear Mr. Lord,
"I am appreciative of your time on the phone today and glad you contacted us. I need to tell you that we cannot meet with you because we choose not to work for homosexuals.
"Best of luck in finding someone else to fill your landscaping needs.
"All my best,
"Sabrina"
Michael Lord forwarded it to his partner with the comment "WOW," and Gary Lackey then passed it along to some friends. They sent it to some friends as well and pretty soon the email had made its way around the nation — and into more than a few news stories.
The Garden Guy web site has this:
The God-ordained institution of marriage is under attack in courts across the nation, and your help is needed.
Go to: www.nogaymarriage.com to take action.
They had a forum (a forum on a landscaping service?) where they received both critical and supportive messages. The Houston Chronicle quoted a couple:
"I am embarrassed for you and your husband," wrote "Chris." "Just as you choose not to do business with us, I, my friends, my family, my co-workers and everyone I meet, will not do business with you! I have sent your e-mail to over 50 people I know and work with. These people know 50 others each ... was your bigotry worth it?"
A writer who said he is a Houston architect wrote that he was glad to learn of their policy so he could avoid sending anyone to them.
"Renting a billboard might not have been as effective as cancelling an appointment by an easily redistributed e-mail, and not having the God-given guts to convey your stance over the telephone."
Many of the postings indicated they would boycott the Garden Guy. Some challenged the Farbers' version of Christianity. I found one that was critical of the angry correspondents.
"There is more hate in these posts than in the original e-mail," wrote "Dave." "Why do you feel that we Christians MUST accept you? Don't you find it ironic that while you demand in one breath that we give up our position that Homosexuality is a sin worthy of hell, that you condemn us to that very place in your next?"
Anti-gay bigots insist that discrimination against gays isn't at all like racial discrimination because race is something you're born with while homosexuality is a behavior. This is wrong on a number of levels. First, it's a common mistake made by conservative evangelicals to identify homosexuality as same-sex behavior when in reality it is same-sex attraction. A person who is attracted to members of the same sex, but who never acts on them, is still a homosexual. Conservative evangelicals exhibit unhealthy obsession with same-sex behavior, completely ignoring the emotional, psychological, and social components of same-sex attraction. Second, there are good reasons to think that same-sex attraction is something you are born with.
Let's ignore all of that, however, and pretend that homosexuality is a chosen behavior. So what? Being Jewish is no less a chosen set of behaviors. According to the arguments used by anti-gay bigots, it should be acceptable to discriminate against Jews or Catholics. The last message above could, throughout much of Christian history, been written about Jews: "Why do you feel that we Christians must accept you Jews? You have demonstrated your perfidious nature by killing God and rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. We want nothing to do with you and that's why we're shutting you up in ghettoes where we don't have to deal with you."
Is it really such a coincidence that the arguments and attitudes of anti-gay bigots are so similar to those that have characterized anti-Semitic bigots? I don't think so.
Todd and Sabrina Farber have sent a message to the "Houston media" stating:
We did not refuse service with malicious intent. We do not hate homosexuals and we are sorry that we hurt Michael Lord and Gary Lackey. We meant to uphold our right as a small business owner to choose who our clients are. We are humbly sorry for the hurt that it has caused.
No malicious intent? It's not malicious to deny gays the same services as straight people simply because they are gay? Would it really not have been "malicious" to refuse to do business with someone because they are Jewish or black?
I have trouble accepting that, but even if it's true it cannot be denied that there are plenty of malicious reactions on the part of the Farbers' homophobic supporters. By refusing to treat gays as equal human beings, worthy of the same respect and consideration as they expect for themselves, the Farbers are helping to perpetuate the idea that gays really are inferior and that they really do deserve to be treated as inferiors. A good example of this are the Free Republic posters who, predictably, are having a field day:
Typical gays. Why do they have to fancy up everything? What did he want, Japanese cherry blossom trees planted?Just trim the hedges & cut the lawn or whatever and be done with it and crack open a beer.
I'm not sure what the problem is. Is it only okay for a person to refuse a hire if they are Muslim taxi drivers?
Of course. And likewise, a business should be allowed to refuse to hire Muslims.
I think his action was ridiculous, unless he was being asked to create some special thing...
The homos like to be exhibitionists... this fellow probably heard these freaks were like that and realized they weren't going to keep the windows closed...
I personally do not like being served by a homosexual waiter. So I started going elsewhere. Guess what? This guy started showing up as a waiter at the second location. I don't go to that restaurant anymore as a result. You know what? It is not ridiculous that I choose whom and when someone can be around me, I consider it my right and others with whom you want to associate. I see this as someone trying to force the homosexual agenda down someone elses throat and crying to press when they don't get their way. Part of the homosexual agenda is to force association with everyone else. If you don't accept this then you must be a homophobe. I see it differently. I see it as a basic right of choice with whom you associate.So even though, as a group, we know they are more likely to take illegal narcotics, and more likely to be child abusers, and more likely to be arrested for prostitution, and more likely to commit murder, we should assume they are perfectly straight in their business dealings? My experience is that evil begets more evil. People who sin tend to commit other sins.
Also:
You just might if you spent your day on your hands and knees with your butt stuck up in the air! As I said on the origunal thread, landscaping and gardening requires you to be in often compromising positions. How'd you like to spend your work day thinking that you were being peered at by some tinkerbell admiring your butt-crack? Not for me.
Besides that, the food I bought with the money earned just wouldn't taste right. Would you shake hands with this guy to "seal the deal"?
I say good for the Garden Guy & his family for taking a stand against these perverts. More should follow his example to let them know they are NOT accepted in our society.
"Do they refuse to do work for someone who has divorced?"
Not a good comparison. Divorced individuals are not lusting for your young son's butt.
Sorry to be crude, but these guys (homos) just don't walk around holding hands and decorating their homes. They are into every vile perverted thing your mind can imagine; beastiality, fisting, feces games (use your imagination on that one)....etc.
What strikes you as "stupid and silly" may strike someone else as a demonstration of principle. I would take your example one step further and refuse to get into a cab with a raghead driver.
Compare this to how people at Free Republic acted in response to reports that Muslim cab drivers were refusing to give rides to a transgendered person:
I'm cheering for the drag queens! They're much less dangerous than the Moozies.
Giving the consumer a choice here would mean allowing sharia-compliant cabs to exist. I say no-I don't believe a Jewish or Christian cab driver would be allowed to enforce his religious beliefs against fares, so moslems shouldn't be allowed to, either. If moslems are allowed to refuse fares based on religious beliefs, they will not see that as a sign of sensitivity, but of fear, of "feeling subdued", of voluntarily assuming dhimmitude.
Any concessions to these creatures merely encourages them to ask for more-which would eventually lead to us losing all our rights (dhimmitude). That's how this "religion" spreads and gains power even over nonadherents. So I say smack 'em down, and hope they'll give up and go back to whatever turd world hellhole spawned them.
Discrimination. Take away their taxi license.
These aren't necessarily the same people as those cheering on the discrimination committed by the Garden Guy and there were people criticizing the Garden Guy, but there is a noticeable difference in tone and opinion: there are a lot more people here criticizing the cab drivers than defending their discrimination and I didn't notice any of the extreme homophobia.
We can find a similar situation at Little Green Footballs:
Revoke their licenses. This is America and its unlawful to discriminate against patrons on the basis of their religion. That is what is going on here.
I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, these are not government employees, they can refuse service to whomever they like provided they don't want to be paid. On the other hand, I think it's so blasted ELITIST of them to wave their religion in our faces, almost like they're trying to provoke a reaction from us... *spit*
This is just sick. They are cabbies in AMERICA. They should stick with the general American code of business (at least as practiced in the places I have worked)- If your religion interferes with your job on an everyday level, seek employment elsewhere.
This is America. If your religion forbids you doing something required by your job, you are free to get another job. If behaving like an American offends you, you are free to go back to from whence you came.
So, when Christians discriminate against gays, that's OK, but when Muslims discriminate about a transgendered person, that's not OK?
As I noted above, the Farbers' discrimination against gays is apparently quite legal in Houston:
"That's the biggest issue. This is not against the law and that is a travesty," said Jerry Simoneaux, attorney [that specializes in gay issues]. He said other cities like Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and El Paso have adopted ordinances that would prohibit discrimination based on sexuality.
"We need something like that in Houston, but we don't have it," said Simoneaux. There is an effort to propose a similar ordinance in Houston.
In the meantime, the gay couple is hoping their story helps spark a boycott of the Garden Guy, Inc.
The story will presumably encourage other anti-gay bigots in the community to send business to the Farbers, too. Hopefully, though, it will shock enough people that it will be possible to amend Houston's anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation.
Opposition to the ability of homosexuals to live their lives like other human beings is frequently framed as a moral issue. Honesty is also presumably a moral issue, but apparently the Garden Guy has a wee bit of trouble with that:
The company's Web site also states that it is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. But it is not, according to the organization's president.
"APLD does not support discriminating against clients based on sexual orientation. APLD will take steps to see that the former member ceases any representation that he or she continues to be a member of APLD," the president said in a statement.
Source: Click2Houston
So let me get this straight (no pun intended)... providing landscaping services for a gay person is not appropriate, even though that would do nothing whatsoever to support or endorse homosexuality in any way, but falsely claiming that you're a member a professional organization in your field is appropriate. That's just not right.
The claim about being a member of the APLD has been taken down, by the way. Previously the site said:
Todd has a BS in Horticulture from Texas A&M, carries the APLD designation (Association Professional Landscape Designers) and is a member of the Texas Landscape & Nursery Association (TNLA). Garden Guy is fully insured for your protection.
Now it says:
Todd has a BS in Horticulture from Texas A&M. Garden Guy is fully insured for your protection.
Notice the odd changes in what is bold. It looks like in the haste to delete the false claim (or is it false claims — was the reference to TNLA removed because it was false, too, or was it removed in error?), someone mistakenly removed the closing bold tag after "Texas A&M." The entire page after that is in bold, which makes it look strange. Ooops.
Marriage, Gay & Straight:
- What Is Marriage?
- What's The Point of Marriage, Gay or Straight?
- Marriage: Religious Rite or Civil Right?
- Interracial Marriage: Loving v. Virginia
- What Does the Bible Say About Monogamy, Polygamy?
- History of Marriage (Marriage)
- Benefits of Legalized Marriage (Gay Life)
Gay Rights, Gay Marriage, and Religion:
- Does Equality for Gays Threaten Religious Liberty?
- Does Religious Liberty Protect a Right to Treat Gays as Unequal?
- Is Religiously Motivated Discrimination Against Gays OK?
- Evangelical Christianity & Homosexuality
- Catholicism & Homosexuality
- Roman Catholicism on Gay Marriages (Christianity - Catholicism)
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