Denver official ain’t chikin about opposing restaurant’s stance
Think Progress reports that a member of the Denver city council has received threatening mail after he voted to postpone the approval of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant at the Denver International Airport.
Councilman Paul D. López is one of several lawmakers who cited opposition to the chicken chain’s previous charitable contributions to anti-gay groups, but he clarified that his main motivation for delaying the contract is because Chick-fil-A, which is run by militant Christians, isn’t open on Sundays, which could pose problems for an airport location.
Nevertheless, López was quite vocal about his worries about Chick-fil-A’s charitable donations and the company’s touted stance against same-sex marriage. His comments have now resulted in a significant backlash, he told Think Progress:
“They say, ‘You are attacking Christian people, and you’re anti-Christian.’ They say, ‘It’s the Bible that you have to obey.’ And then they go on using expletives, and threatening violence… Authorities have been notified.”
He also told Think Progress that scurrilous headlines, which wrongly reported that the Denver council had already blocked Chick-fil-A altogether, helped foster the prolific hate mail:
“It is [Chick-fil-A’s] First Amendment right to say whatever they want to say [about same-sex marriage]. And we’re not going to deny a contract based on that. But our criticism and discussion is a First Amendment right, too. When there are headlines saying we’re denying or persecuting a company because it’s Christian, that’s false. They want to do business with a public entity that includes members of the LGBT community, and although it does bother me that this billion dollar corporation has actively and financially opposed the community and undermined the community’s equal rights, that’s not the basis for questioning the [contract] itself.”
López pointed out that he has heard rumors that the airport will waive its usual policy requiring that businesses be open seven days a week, so he’s expecting the contract will, in fact, soon be approved.
“At the end of the day, Chick-fil-A will probably be in [Denver International Airport],” he said.
— LGBTQ Nation (lgbtqnation.com), a qnotes media partner
Cousin: Family ‘accepted’ gay TV shooter
Guynell Flanagan, first cousin of Vester Flanagan, the man who murdered WBDJ-TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward on live television on Aug. 26, spoke with the Daily Mail about how the family is coping with the heartbreaking situation.
Shortly after the killings, Flanagan emailed a 23-page manifesto to ABC News describing that his motivation for the killings were a result of mistreatment he felt he received for being black and gay.
“He wrote the manifesto,” Guynell said, “but [the family] don’t believe a lot of what’s being said about him. We know Vester in different ways.”
“The whole family knew he was gay,” she continued. “We accepted him. He’s not the only one in the family who’s gay and, personally, I couldn’t care less.”
Guynell explained that the last time she actually saw Flanagan was in November 2013, when she invited him and a male companion over for Thanksgiving dinner. She is not sure whether the man was a boyfriend or just a friend, and she didn’t ask.
— LGBTQ Nation (lgbtqnation.com), a qnotes media partner
Trump explains position on ‘dead’ marriage issue
Billionaire reality TV star/2016 Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump was recently asked what he would tell a child who asked him about his opposition to gay marriage. Trump’s response: ignore the question.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Trump was asked: “If you had a son or daughter or grandchild who was gay or lesbian, how would you explain to them your opposition to same-sex marriage?”
Trump replied, “Well, it’s the way it is. I wouldn’t speak to them at all about it, other than they are who they are and I want them to be happy and I will love them and I will cherish them.
“I’ve gone to gay weddings,” he continued. “I’ve been at gay weddings. I have been against it from the standpoint of [the] Bible, from the standpoint of my teachings as growing up and going to Sunday school and going to church and I’ve been opposed to it.
“We’ll just see how it all comes out,” he concluded, “but if I was ever in that position, I’d just have to explain it.”
In the past, Trump has said he opposed gay marriage because he “just don’t feel good about it,” but recently he declared the issue officially “dead.”
— LGBTQ Nation (lgbtqnation.com), a qnotes media partner
That’s Mx. to you
On Aug. 27, The Oxford English Dictionary officially announced that the title “Mx.,” a gender-neutral prefix intended for people who don’t identify as Mr., Ms., Mrs. or Miss, has been added into the lexicon. Their definition reads as follows:
“Mx (noun): a title used before a person’s surname or full name by those who wish to avoid specifying their gender or by those who prefer not to identify themselves as male or female.”
The inclusion of “Mx.” falls on the heels of Sweden’s decision earlier this year to add their gender-neutral pronoun “hen” to its dictionary. (“Han” is the equivalent of “he,” and “henne” is the equivalent of “she.”)
The word “cisgender” was recently added to the Oxford English dictionary, too.
In a recent Facebook post, performance artist Justin Vivian Bond also noted that “Scrabble Queens” should be pleased with the addition — “Mx” is a very high-scoring two-letter word. : :
— LGBTQ Nation (lgbtqnation.com), a qnotes media partner
Much of the ‘backlash’ wasn’t threatening, but encouraging the council to not discriminate against people who believe differently than they do. Of course, those thousands of emails aren’t good for your headlines.