GAY BOYCOTT

There is an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal exploring the efforts by gay activist groups in California to organize boycotts against businesses that supported the Prop 8 gay marriage ban.

It is a very well written piece. It is even-handed, doesn't paint the gay community with a broad brush, and is very informative. The story focuses primarily on one Marjorie Christoffersen, the daughter of a restaurant owner (evidently she manages the restaurant), whose establishment is frequented by many in the gay community.

I have a few thoughts that I would like to share with y'all on this subject. First of all, I have no problem with boycotts. Even though I've never participated in one, I firmly believe that any individual with a gripe against a business, or institution is well within their rights to boycott, and encourage others to do so as well.

I don't care what the particular issue is...it's okay with me. If the Sierra Club wants to call for a boycott of Walmart because they didn't put enough sod on the roof during their "green" construction of a new SuperCenter... Okay. If Don Wildmon, or James Dobson call for a boycott of Colgate toothpaste, or every advertiser of some hideous anti-righteousness television program... Okay. If GLAAD calls for a boycott of every advertiser that sponsors James Dobson's, or Sean Hannity's, or even Michael Savage's radio programs... Okay. Thank God we can still do that. Personally I find these efforts pretty foolish on a broad scale. But the microcosm of a boycott can be very harmful...almost always with unintended consequences.

Evidently this El Coyote (that's Mexican for 'the coyote') restaurant in Los Angeles has been severely harmed by a local boycott by gay activists. Now, as I read this, the El Coyote was a popular hangout for gays. I am positive that this Mrs. Christofferson had made many, many friends of the regulars. And I am almost certain that many (if not most) of the gay patrons of this joint don't really care that she contributed an astounding $100 to the campaign to pass Prop 8.

Therein lies the first rub with me. I am just projecting my own mindset here...I wonder how many gay patrons of El Coyote would just love to act like a grown-up human that likes the food, the atmosphere, and the service at this establishment, yet may be made to feel like a traitor to the cause if they buy a beer & a taco from a restaurant with an "evil, inhumane, civil rights stealing, Mormon" manager. Once again, just projecting...I would bet that a huge majority don't really care, but the pressure to get "in line" causes them to stay away.

The second rub on this whole story...and this is the one that rubs me raw...is that while Mrs. Christoffersen has made a heart-felt apology to this group boycotting the restaurant (not an apology for her contribution, nor for her deeply held beliefs either...only an apology for any offense), that's not good enough! No, they won't drop the boycott until she contributes $100 to the effort to repeal Prop. 8.

Now, my first thought was "Man, how sandbox is that?" "Waaa...waaa...waaa....you gave them a hundwed dowlars...if you're weally sowwy, you'll give us a hundwed dowwars...waaa...waaa...waaa...then we'll know that you weally, weally sowwy, and we'll wet evwybody come back to your wittle westauwant!"

But my first thought is probably not correct. No, it's more than infantile tit-for-tatism. It is a truly demonic mindset that seeks to humiliate another by forcing them to do something that clearly violates their principled faith. Having principles should cost you something. Truthfully, if your principles don't cost you anything, you'll never know if you are rooted in them, or if they are rooted in you. (whichever is correct)

I have many more thoughts on this, and several stories I could share...but I just offer this to you as food for thought.

LOS ANGELES -- Soon after California's passage of a initiative banning same-sex marriage last month, dozens of gay activists descended on the El Coyote restaurant with signs and placards. They chanted "Shame on you," cussed at patrons and began a boycott of the cafe.

The restaurants's crime: A daughter of the owner donated $100 to support Proposition 8, the antigay-marriage initiative approved by voters. Gay activists have refused to lift the boycott -- which restaurant managers say has slashed revenues by 30% -- even after some El Coyote employees raised $500 to help repeal the new ban.

The boycotters have demanded that the owner's daughter, El Coyote manager Marjorie Christoffersen, pony up $100 to help repeal Prop 8. She tearfully declined, citing her Mormon faith, during a raucous meeting with activists. "You are not my friend if you take my civil rights," one activist shouted before she fled the room.

In the first days after California voters reinstated the ban on Nov. 4, activists vented much of their anger in protests at Mormon and other churches that had advocated Prop 8. But they soon shifted to a new tack: compiling Internet blacklists of businesses like El Coyote, where top officials or one or more employees were found from public disclosures to have donated to the "Yes on 8" campaign. (more)