Sauce for the goose
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders went to a restaurant called The Red Hen in Lexington, VA. It's a 26 seat farm to table eatery. She was the last of a party of eight to arrive. Stephanie Wilkinson, co-owner of the place asked Mrs. Sanders to join her on the patio of the place. Once they were there, alone, she asked Mrs. Sanders to please leave. She claimed, according to a piece in the Washington Post, she said, "I explained that the restaurant has certain standards that I feel it has to uphold, such as honesty, compassion and cooperation." Then she invited her to leave. To her credit, Mrs. Sanders did not engage in a confrontation. She just left. So did the rest of her party.
If I understand this correctly, by serving Mrs. Sanders and party, the restaurant would be supporting the positions that Mrs. Sanders defends when she speaks on behalf of Donald J. Trump. How is that any different than a baker refusing to make a cake for a same-sex couple's wedding?
That one situation involves religious beliefs and the other involves political and personal beliefs that are not religious in nature is irrelevant. Refusing service is, or isn't, supporting the positions/beliefs of the customer.
A business owner has every right to refuse to serve any customer, as long as the business owner isn't violating the various civil rights and discrimination laws. It may well be legal to discriminate based on politics and not on the basis of gender preference. But is it right?
Just as I do not believe that the baker who refused to make that cake is supporting same-sex marriage by doing so, I do not believe that serving dinner to Mrs. Sanders and her party is supporting the lack of honesty, compassion and cooperation that we are seeing from the Trump Administration.
It was a tough call for Ms Wilkinson. The 7,000 residents of Lexington voted overwhelming for Hillary Clinton in the election. But Rockbridge County, where it is the county seat voted just as overwhelming overall for Donald Trump. Some of the Red Hen employees are gay and did not like the defense by Mrs. Sanders of the Trump policy to exclude transgendered people from serving in the military. They did not like the policy of separating families at the border.
That is all well and good, But if baking a cake for a same-sex couple is not supporting same-sex marriage, how is serving someone a meal supporting their political positions? How is it supporting their work as being the spokesperson for the #LiarInChief? Either providing services to people is or isn't tacit support for what they are doing outside of the business.
If the two situations are indeed different, I'd love to hear the reasoning that demonstrates why one is okay and the other isn't.
If I understand this correctly, by serving Mrs. Sanders and party, the restaurant would be supporting the positions that Mrs. Sanders defends when she speaks on behalf of Donald J. Trump. How is that any different than a baker refusing to make a cake for a same-sex couple's wedding?
That one situation involves religious beliefs and the other involves political and personal beliefs that are not religious in nature is irrelevant. Refusing service is, or isn't, supporting the positions/beliefs of the customer.
A business owner has every right to refuse to serve any customer, as long as the business owner isn't violating the various civil rights and discrimination laws. It may well be legal to discriminate based on politics and not on the basis of gender preference. But is it right?
Just as I do not believe that the baker who refused to make that cake is supporting same-sex marriage by doing so, I do not believe that serving dinner to Mrs. Sanders and her party is supporting the lack of honesty, compassion and cooperation that we are seeing from the Trump Administration.
It was a tough call for Ms Wilkinson. The 7,000 residents of Lexington voted overwhelming for Hillary Clinton in the election. But Rockbridge County, where it is the county seat voted just as overwhelming overall for Donald Trump. Some of the Red Hen employees are gay and did not like the defense by Mrs. Sanders of the Trump policy to exclude transgendered people from serving in the military. They did not like the policy of separating families at the border.
That is all well and good, But if baking a cake for a same-sex couple is not supporting same-sex marriage, how is serving someone a meal supporting their political positions? How is it supporting their work as being the spokesperson for the #LiarInChief? Either providing services to people is or isn't tacit support for what they are doing outside of the business.
If the two situations are indeed different, I'd love to hear the reasoning that demonstrates why one is okay and the other isn't.
posted by me at 7:37 PM
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