Last Chance To See 600 sq mi: Hidden
Missed Connections: Gefilte Fish...and "Chain Connections"
H-Town Rock
Rock Talk, Vol. IX
Like us, you may have received the forwarded email about how local gardeners Todd and Sabrina Farber cannot "perform service" with a client because he's gay (the client, not Todd -- at least that hasn't surfaced, yet). If you haven't seen the email, you can read it on the Chronicle's site - written by Sabrina, it simply reads:
"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."
Well, while we certainly know that it is a business owner's liberty to pick and choose his or her clients, this was a little odd - Sabrina seems so nice about it, yet it is kind of sneaky, since she only conveyed those feelings via email and not over the phone (which was how she and the client were previously communicating).
The Garden Guy's web site (which we'll let you google; we also have heard that it is first to come up when you search for "men with issues") also has a little kicker at the very bottom of the "learn about Garden Guy" page:
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.Ephesians 5:8 (Amplified Bible)
...For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light and lead the lives of those native-born to the Light.
There is a forum hosted by the web site with some lively discussion, but the link has been removed - we were able to scrounge it up here, though. Todd and Sabrina have refused to answer any emails or phone calls regarding this, as well, and have been labelled everything from repressed homosexuals to fake Christians.
Another question remains, though - how and when do they do their "homo-scan?" While the client who received this email told the Farbers he had a partner and not a wife, what if no clear information is offered? Todd and Sabrina might have dug holes and hoed in many a homosexual's soil! The moral of this story? Let your potential customers know very clearly and up front about your bigoted business practices, that way you won't even have to risk talking on the phone with those "sinners."
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UPDATE:
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Read the official statement from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers denouncing the discriminatory behavior -and- the unfair use of the APLD name here or here.
Photo: Flickr user savinca
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...i dunno...not sure i agree with the tone or tenor of the houstonist or the chronicle take...both seem a little too knee jerk, pc for me...then again, nor do i agree with the farber position...i would not refuse to provide a service because of someone's sexual orientation..one thing i do agree with, however, is that we all have the right to make choices, the farbers made theirs based on their personal moral beliefs and they seem to be willing to live with the personal and commercial consequences whatever they might be...at least they were civil in their response and honest in their actions, which is more than many of us can boast these days...
The picture accompanying this news item is amazing.
Fine so they have their beleifs, I personally do not beleive they are correct in their beleifs but why be so blunt and hurfull, if they assumed this was a gay couple they should have just said I'm sorry we can't do the job and moved on but bo they handled it very harshly. Sure maybe her email was tactful, but I think that was more along the lines of being a smart ass, nit being nice about it.
About the text & link to www.nogaymarriage.com, it appears to be a recent addition.
If you look at Google's cache from Sep. 8, 2006, you'll see that it's not there:
http://tinyurl.com/ykjlmd
Compare to current page:
http://www.garden-guy.com/about.html
Hence, they only made their stance on gay marriage clear on their website sometime after 9/8/06. It's possible (though not necessarily true) that Michael Lord didn't notice the link to "www.nogaymarriage.com" because it wasn't on their website at the time he sought their services.
I love how politically correct some of these comments are. As if to say, I don't agree with their position, but they can choose who they want to work with. Got news for you folks: They're wrong. Just as wrong as for a doctor to refuse treatment to gays, or blacks or women. Hate is hate is hate. There is no gray area here. They are biggots who shroud their self-righteous positions behind a wall of religion. It's about time people stand up to this acceptable form of hate... Remember: YOU COULD BE NEXT!