Like Matthew, my mother also didn’t handle my coming out well, and had nearly the same reaction. I do not believe that the expatriation from my family was my doing, I believe it was my parents’ responsibility. Still, I never “disowned” them, because I believe that everyone has a piece of the truth, and because of my belief in the Christian teaching of “turning the other cheek.”

I get that you want me to take a “black” or “white” position, TakeFive, but life isn’t cast in extreme colors. I personally believe that an indicator of intellectual maturity is the ability to deal with shades of gray.

And as for the families that work at El Coyote, they will find other jobs… but unless prop 8 is repealed, we will still not have our civil rights… who is being hurt more? We are.

Hey Sam, thanks for giving us a place to argue this one out… and keeping us civil.

“Have you even watched the videos …you’ll see that I was nothing but respectful in questioning Ms. Christoffersen”

Yeah you were a real sweetheart and you got video proving what a swell guy you were. Here are the Cliff’s Notes of what YOU wrote:

“…her remarks before a group of about 60 members of Los Angeles’ LGBT community…”

“The tall, frail Christofferson stood in the center of the group. She appeared to be shaking…”

“At several points during her speech, Christofferson simply became too emotional to continue.”

So Mr. Nice Guy, how do you think it feels to be an 80 year-old woman being oh so politely asked to justify yourself in front of a 60 person Truth and Reconciliation committee? One answer is your core beliefs, the other your livelihood.

But here’s the thing. She probably wasn’t thinking about her livelihood, since she’s close to cashing it in. No, she is thinking about her kids who depend on that restaurant to support her grandkids. Or about Rodrigo the busboy with his 7 kids and Christmas just around the corner.

So don’t give me this wobbly soul-searching. Get with your brethren and tell them to knock it off and pick on someone there own size, because this kind of crap is burning up your sympathy capital faster than you realize.

Here are the Cliff’s Notes to my editorial:

“…an El Coyote boycott isn’t the right place to put our energy right now.”

“…a boycott would probably put El Coyote out of business and 89 families out of work. Is that the best strategy for winning those undecided minds to our cause?”

“…and when the business is gone, then what?”

“…Marjorie Christofferson is not the Mormon Church, she is one person of faith within that church.”

I’ll leave you with this: children don’t “disown” parents, parents disown children.

“The best result for an LGBT boycott of El Coyote…”

and

“Is that the best strategy for winning…”

Not exactly a strong denunciation of the tactic, is it?

Look, this woman came to a line she couldn’t cross, and didn’t what to see society cross either. Does that make her a bad person? Was she unkind to her LBGT patrons? Did she give you menacing stares or spit in your food?

Further, did she in anyway imply that you should be harmed or discriminated against for your lifestyle, or that you shouldn’t be able to cohabitate and enjoy a civil union? No, in her quiet way, she said her belief is that marriage is between a man and a woman, as did a majority of California voters.

Let me leave you with this. If you had a parent that said “I can never accept your sexuality, but I will always love you”, would you disown that parent?

Read the article. That’s not what I said.

You accuse me of “browbeating,” etc. Have you even watched the videos of the meeting? I’d encourage you to do so, because you’ll see that I was nothing but respectful in questioning Ms. Christoffersen.

Hey, you don’t want to eat there fine. You want to tell her why? Great, send her a letter. But organize a boycott with the express purpose to drive her out of business or put the hurt on her for disagreeing with your choices? Piss off. And to exact some form of reparations? Sickening.

If I want to go there with my partner, am I going to have to cross a picket line of you crybabies who are upset with the mean lady? Maybe I become as narrow minded as you and refuse to do business with people that don’t share my beliefs. That will make the world a better place.

Myth: Coors is a model of pro-gay workplace practices and shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions of a few ultraconservative family members.

Fact: In 1977 lesbian/gay businesses joined an AFL-CIO boycott of Coors, citing Coors’ history of support for attacks on gay rights. Sales of Coors beer plummeted in the gay community. In response, in 1978 Coors adopted language against discrimination on account of sexual orientation in employment, and has offered small sums of money to lesbian/gay organizations in order to recover beer sales and improve Coors’ public image. But Coors has never stopped funding right-wing attacks on gay rights.

The lesbian/gay boycott of Coors has hurt Coors so badly that in 1995 Coors was one of the first major corporations to adopt same sex domestic partner benefits. But this did not mean an end to Coors’ continuing financial support for attacks on gay rights.

Improved working conditions for lesbians and gay men at Coors do not include union rights and protection. The Coors Company has destroyed 19 unions since 1960, including the Boilermakers, Ironworkers, Electricians and Plumbers, Pipefitters and Brewers locals. The Coors strategy was to propose an outrageous and unacceptable “final offer,” forcing a union strike. Coors then hired non-union replacements and conducted union decertification elections with a majority scab workforce. Today Coors is the only nonunion mass producer of beer in the country.

Your choice of the terms “browbeating” and “extortion” puzzles me. The restaurant offered to make these donations–they were not cajoled, browbeaten or dragged.

Let’s keep it real, shall we?

Congratulations on browbeating and extorting money out of an old woman. What’s next? Are you going to shoot her dog since “she would not apologize for her faith”? Maybe send her to gay reeducation camp?

How about just charging her a Dhimmi tax for operating in YOUR city? Even fascists need an income, right? No doubt there are other eateries in the area that need your “approval”.

seriously? no sympathy there! none at all! she brought this on herself. if she doesn’t understand that she is hurting people and continueing to do so – scr*w her.