Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. - Empty Closets - A safe online community for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered people coming out

kiersten · 20th Oct 2011, 09:55 PM

Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”..

by Michelle Boyce on Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 11:06pm
.

Be careful where you hold hands in Blenheim when you’re Queer especially when the Rev. of Glad Tidings Church is present.

I am getting a little sick of “family friendly” that excludes my family, your family and anyone else’s family that doesn’t fit someone else’s mold. Some Trans people were getting together at a friend’s house tonight and they asked me to come over. The topic of conversation rapidly moved to Riley and Patricia’s storey of being tossed out of a Tim Horton’s because it was a “family friendly place”. Echoes of Ed Kikett and the issues at Trails End resonated in my brain as I listened to these folks stories.

Patricia and her gender queer partner Riley were sitting on the bench in front of Tim Horton’s with nine of their family members; which included mom, brother, cousin and various other relatives drinking coffee. Inside Tim Horton’s was the Rev. of Glad Tidings Church who felt in necessary to stare down the couple and their family. After speaking to the Rev., the manager of Tim Horton’s approached the couple and told them what they were doing was unacceptable and that Tim Horton’s was a “family friendly environment”. The couple looked at the manager with shock and hurt as they were there with their family. When asked what they had done to offend people, the Manager said they were touching, hand holding and making out – The later involved a single kiss the couple had shared in front of mom. The couple gave the standard response stating that heterosexual couples have done the same for all eternity, why was it wrong for this couple? To which the manager declared that the couple had five minutes to leave the property or else the Police would be called. To add insult to injury as the couple was leaving the Tim Horton’s parking lot the current reigning Rev. according to the Church website, Ken Powell chose that time to hold a prayer circle in the Tim Horton’s parking lot to pray for the couple’s souls. The Pastor was joined by 15+ citizens and the prayer circle was held in front of the couple’s family members.

Personally, I think this is thoroughly repugnant. I'm also pretty sure that it would be illegal to have the cops actively participate in an act of discrimination. I can't even believe that someone would actually tell a family to leave just because they couldn't deal with someone else having a different lifestyle or family situation. I sincerely hope that someone holds the manager of this location accountable for this...

Revan · 20th Oct 2011, 10:00 PM

This pisses me off quite a bit...

kiersten · 20th Oct 2011, 10:10 PM

I'm actually planning on bringing this up with my law professor later today. I'm fairly certain that section 15 of the Charter Of Human Rights & Freedoms specifically prohibits this kind of discrimination. Plus, the worst part is how the ignorant minister actually went out to the parking lot & had a 'prayer group' in front of the whole family as they were leaving. Talk about insult to injury...

thecat06 · 20th Oct 2011, 10:27 PM

Wow... that is horrible..
as if getting kicked out was not enough, they got religion shoved down their throats as well.
some people need to learn how to be respectful...

Revan · 21st Oct 2011, 12:32 AM

kiersten, can you post the link you found that in? I looked but can't find a thing.

**Chip** · 21st Oct 2011, 12:38 AM

Major corporate backpedaling from Tim Hortons in 5...4...3....

British Lad · 21st Oct 2011, 04:48 AM

This sickens me.

kiersten · 21st Oct 2011, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revan

kiersten, can you post the link you found that in? I looked but can't find a thing.

Love to, but I couldn't find one either. I actually had to copy & paste from where I did find it, since this was actually posted on FB on one of the support group pages I have added, so posting a link would be a no-go under the T&C. It did just happen yesterday, so I imagine something should hopefully be in the news sooner rather than later. Then again, Blenheim is a small town, so I wouldn't be surprised if their newspaper never does a story on it...

sokk · 21st Oct 2011, 08:40 AM

Wow.. Canada really is going to hell these days. Too bad the conservative freaks running the country has this large of an effect on the entire Canadian society. Once a very gay friendly and liberal country really is turning into an extremely conservative country, where "family values" are held high, and gays are practically second class citizens again. I blame Harper and his moronic government.

Fintan · 21st Oct 2011, 01:56 PM

This is pretty sad. I am from small town Ontario -- not far from Blenheim actually -- and sadly I am not surprised at all by this story. However, I have never heard of this church either (assuming Evangelical?). My assumption would be that if this made bigger news, most Ontarians would be pretty upset with what happened. I also think Tim Hortons will do the right thing. Afterall it depends more on the manager of the individual store and the community that manager came from rather than the store itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokk

Wow.. Canada really is going to hell these days. Too bad the conservative freaks running the country has this large of an effect on the entire Canadian society. Once a very gay friendly and liberal country really is turning into an extremely conservative country, where "family values" are held high, and gays are practically second class citizens again. I blame Harper and his moronic government.

Give me a break. This would have happened no matter who was in power and will receive the same treatment at court. Small-town Ontario was never particularly 'gay friendly or liberal' on LGBT issues; I grew up there under a Liberal, New Democrat, and Conservative governments and it never was the case. Old habits die hard.

kiersten · 21st Oct 2011, 02:06 PM

Well, I live in Sarnia, which isn't too far from Blenheim, and it's pretty conservative here too. I brought this up with some of my friends in my criminal law class today, as well as my professor, & not only were all of them surprised, they were angry & upset about it as well.

As for people's attitudes here in Sarnia, while it is pretty homophobic here, I came out to 4 people this week, two of them today, and everyone has been supportive & understanding so far. So not everybody is narrow-minded. It really depends on where you are I guess & who it is. It seems at the rate I'm going, I should be out to everyone in my college program before the end of this year & from all indications, no one seems to be bothered by my being trans or lesbian so far, so I'm encouraged that the whole journey I have ahead of me for the next couple years will be around people who are all supportive. Then again, we are all law students, so that may make a difference as well...

Revan · 21st Oct 2011, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokk

Wow.. Canada really is going to hell these days. Too bad the conservative freaks running the country has this large of an effect on the entire Canadian society. Once a very gay friendly and liberal country really is turning into an extremely conservative country, where "family values" are held high, and gays are practically second class citizens again. I blame Harper and his moronic government.

Yup. When Harper took over he tried to get same-sex marriage revoked. Luckily the Supreme Court basically told him to fuck off because they were sick of the battling about it. Same time, we actually had an amazing potential leader when Jack Layton actually made NDP the opposing party for the first time in years...but then he unfortunately passed away to cancer....our country's had a lot of heart aches lately...

Just Adam · 21st Oct 2011, 05:35 PM

I feel very bad for them

Its not fair that buisnesses can get away with these acts of discrimination.

kiersten · 21st Oct 2011, 05:45 PM

I think that, had Jack lived longer, he would have had an excellent chance at being Prime Minister in the next election., Revan. It was such a sad loss for everyone, and even Jack's opponents respected him & what he tried to accomplish. Something I always did find confusing tho, was that the Conservatives are against same-sex marriage but they were the same party that ADDED sex-reassignment surgery for trans people so that it was covered under OHIP. Weird...

As for this whole mess, yep, none of my classmates & especially my law professor were impressed with this. Pretty much everyone I told about this incident acted with disgust towards this Rev. person & the manager of the Timmies. So there are defitinely quite a few people in my life who aren't gay, but also don't tolerate this kind of crap either. Which is amazing to know, since I see all of them everyday & enjoy being friends with them!

One of my friends said that this manager pretty much just lost his franchise because of this as well, since it will get back to corporate & they dont tolerate that sort of thing, or so he said anyway, I'm not sure how he knew all of that...

starfish · 21st Oct 2011, 06:29 PM

Damn, I like Tim Hortons. It is one of the reasons I go to Canada.

Though really this was just a jack ass manager.

Kenko · 22nd Oct 2011, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokk

Wow.. Canada really is going to hell these days. Too bad the conservative freaks running the country has this large of an effect on the entire Canadian society. Once a very gay friendly and liberal country really is turning into an extremely conservative country, where "family values" are held high, and gays are practically second class citizens again. I blame Harper and his moronic government.

I disagree. Canada has always had its share of homophobia, particularly in rural areas. What you are seeing now is that people are willing to speak up about it rather than sit in silence.

Similar to how only now are people suddenly concerned about the "recent rash of gay teen suicides". Newsflash, qay teens have always been at a substantially higher risk of committing suicide than their straight counterparts. Only recently, usually due in part to social media, people are actually finding out about these suicides rather than them happening in silence.

22nd Oct 2011, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokk

Wow.. Canada really is going to hell these days. Too bad the conservative freaks running the country has this large of an effect on the entire Canadian society. Once a very gay friendly and liberal country really is turning into an extremely conservative country, where "family values" are held high, and gays are practically second class citizens again. I blame Harper and his moronic government.

Harper held a vote against gay marriage five years ago. A single dickhead manager in very rural Ontario asked a gay couple to leave. Therefore, Harper must have caused this incident.

Truth is, the Conservatives haven't really said anything "officially" (I've met Liberal MPs that are against gay marriage as well) about homosexuality in years. And to be honest, there isn't really any more rights that they can give us in Canada.

Fintan · 23rd Oct 2011, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostandFound

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokk

Wow.. Canada really is going to hell these days. Too bad the conservative freaks running the country has this large of an effect on the entire Canadian society. Once a very gay friendly and liberal country really is turning into an extremely conservative country, where "family values" are held high, and gays are practically second class citizens again. I blame Harper and his moronic government.

Harper held a vote against gay marriage five years ago. A single dickhead manager in very rural Ontario asked a gay couple to leave. Therefore, Harper must have caused this incident.

Truth is, the Conservatives haven't really said anything "officially" (I've met Liberal MPs that are against gay marriage as well) about homosexuality in years. And to be honest, there isn't really any more rights that they can give us in Canada.

You're right on the money LostandFound. Just to add, Harper said in 2006 after the same-sex marriage vote that he wouldn't reopen the Same-sex marriage issue as long as he was in office... which looks like 9+ years total (2006 - 2015).

And I'd agree; there isn't really any more rights that we can be given in Canada, but it will take time for attitudes in rural Canada to change. But I think only time will change that.

Mystery · 23rd Oct 2011, 07:12 PM

I'm from Chatham- Kent and have family in Blenheim (One of which happens to be a lesbian) and I know for a fact that that minister (and that whole church for that matter) are pricks about that. If memory serves me correctly, I'm pretty sure that that's the church my aunt was kicked out of when she met her partner.
And Blenheim has never been particularly "gay-friendly" to begin with. Things have changed since I lived there but that's how I remember it.

RaeofLite · 23rd Oct 2011, 08:14 PM

What I would have done? I would have honestly stayed there till the cops showed up and then claimed a hate crime against the manager/pastor.

20th Oct 2011, 09:55 PM	#1
kiersten KierstenChromium, Mistress Of Metal Full Member Gender: Transgender - MtF Orientation: Lesbian Out Status: Out to 127 people & my parents & 1 cousin so far Location: Sarnia, ON Posts: 1,331 Join Date: Jun 2011	Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. by Michelle Boyce on Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 11:06pm . Be careful where you hold hands in Blenheim when you’re Queer especially when the Rev. of Glad Tidings Church is present. I am getting a little sick of “family friendly” that excludes my family, your family and anyone else’s family that doesn’t fit someone else’s mold. Some Trans people were getting together at a friend’s house tonight and they asked me to come over. The topic of conversation rapidly moved to Riley and Patricia’s storey of being tossed out of a Tim Horton’s because it was a “family friendly place”. Echoes of Ed Kikett and the issues at Trails End resonated in my brain as I listened to these folks stories. Patricia and her gender queer partner Riley were sitting on the bench in front of Tim Horton’s with nine of their family members; which included mom, brother, cousin and various other relatives drinking coffee. Inside Tim Horton’s was the Rev. of Glad Tidings Church who felt in necessary to stare down the couple and their family. After speaking to the Rev., the manager of Tim Horton’s approached the couple and told them what they were doing was unacceptable and that Tim Horton’s was a “family friendly environment”. The couple looked at the manager with shock and hurt as they were there with their family. When asked what they had done to offend people, the Manager said they were touching, hand holding and making out – The later involved a single kiss the couple had shared in front of mom. The couple gave the standard response stating that heterosexual couples have done the same for all eternity, why was it wrong for this couple? To which the manager declared that the couple had five minutes to leave the property or else the Police would be called. To add insult to injury as the couple was leaving the Tim Horton’s parking lot the current reigning Rev. according to the Church website, Ken Powell chose that time to hold a prayer circle in the Tim Horton’s parking lot to pray for the couple’s souls. The Pastor was joined by 15+ citizens and the prayer circle was held in front of the couple’s family members. Personally, I think this is thoroughly repugnant. I'm also pretty sure that it would be illegal to have the cops actively participate in an act of discrimination. I can't even believe that someone would actually tell a family to leave just because they couldn't deal with someone else having a different lifestyle or family situation. I sincerely hope that someone holds the manager of this location accountable for this... __________________ Penny: What's Sheldon's deal? Leonard: What do you mean "deal"? Penny : You know, like, what's his deal? Is it girls? Guys? Sock puppets? Leonard: Honestly, we've been operating under the assumption that he has no deal. Last edited by kiersten; 20th Oct 2011 at 10:08 PM..

20th Oct 2011, 10:00 PM	#2
Revan EC Addict Full Member Gender: M for MEEP! Orientation: Mutant and Proud Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Windsor, Ontario Age: 24 Posts: 6,569 Join Date: Jun 2005	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. This pisses me off quite a bit... __________________ "Is there some reason my coffee isn't here? Has she died or something?" - Miranda Priestly. Strength is not defined by physical capacity, but by indomitable will. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Procrastination is like masturbation, in the end you just wind up screwing yourself.

20th Oct 2011, 10:10 PM	#3
kiersten KierstenChromium, Mistress Of Metal Full Member Gender: Transgender - MtF Orientation: Lesbian Out Status: Out to 127 people & my parents & 1 cousin so far Location: Sarnia, ON Posts: 1,331 Join Date: Jun 2011	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. I'm actually planning on bringing this up with my law professor later today. I'm fairly certain that section 15 of the Charter Of Human Rights & Freedoms specifically prohibits this kind of discrimination. Plus, the worst part is how the ignorant minister actually went out to the parking lot & had a 'prayer group' in front of the whole family as they were leaving. Talk about insult to injury... __________________ Penny: What's Sheldon's deal? Leonard: What do you mean "deal"? Penny : You know, like, what's his deal? Is it girls? Guys? Sock puppets? Leonard: Honestly, we've been operating under the assumption that he has no deal.

20th Oct 2011, 10:27 PM	#4
thecat06 EC's Biggest LNJF and SNL fan!! Full Member Gender: Let's say Pangender! Orientation: Let's say gay!! Out Status: Out to parents, campus, and 75 friends on facebook Location: Central and Northern Ohio Age: 19 Posts: 2,504 Join Date: Jun 2011	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. Wow... that is horrible.. as if getting kicked out was not enough, they got religion shoved down their throats as well. some people need to learn how to be respectful... __________________ So many years have passed, since I proclaimed my independence, my mission, my aim, and my vision, so secure, content to live each day like it's my last, it's wonderful to know, that I could be, something more than what I dreamed, far beyond what I could see -Dream Theater

21st Oct 2011, 12:32 AM	#5
Revan EC Addict Full Member Gender: M for MEEP! Orientation: Mutant and Proud Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Windsor, Ontario Age: 24 Posts: 6,569 Join Date: Jun 2005	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. kiersten, can you post the link you found that in? I looked but can't find a thing. __________________ "Is there some reason my coffee isn't here? Has she died or something?" - Miranda Priestly. Strength is not defined by physical capacity, but by indomitable will. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Procrastination is like masturbation, in the end you just wind up screwing yourself.

21st Oct 2011, 12:38 AM	#6
Chip EC Advisor EC Admin Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Out to everyone Location: northern CA Posts: 5,582 Join Date: May 2008	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. Major corporate backpedaling from Tim Hortons in 5...4...3....

21st Oct 2011, 04:48 AM	#7
British Lad EC Biggest Tarantino fan Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: As bent as a roundabout Out Status: What Closet Location: West Midlands Posts: 1,275 Join Date: Apr 2010	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. This sickens me. __________________ Who ever sayed "Ignorance is bliss" was a moron.

21st Oct 2011, 08:40 AM	#9
sokk EC Addict Regular Member Gender: Female Orientation: Bisexual Out Status: The closet is my friend Location: Norway Age: 24 Posts: 312 Join Date: Dec 2009	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. Wow.. Canada really is going to hell these days. Too bad the conservative freaks running the country has this large of an effect on the entire Canadian society. Once a very gay friendly and liberal country really is turning into an extremely conservative country, where "family values" are held high, and gays are practically second class citizens again. I blame Harper and his moronic government. __________________ John: "Oh please.. can we not do this this time?" Sherlock: "Do what?" John: "You.. being all mysterious with your cheekbones and turning your coat collar up so you look cool." Sherlock: "I don't do that." John: "Yes, you do."

21st Oct 2011, 02:06 PM	#11
kiersten KierstenChromium, Mistress Of Metal Full Member Gender: Transgender - MtF Orientation: Lesbian Out Status: Out to 127 people & my parents & 1 cousin so far Location: Sarnia, ON Posts: 1,331 Join Date: Jun 2011	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. Well, I live in Sarnia, which isn't too far from Blenheim, and it's pretty conservative here too. I brought this up with some of my friends in my criminal law class today, as well as my professor, & not only were all of them surprised, they were angry & upset about it as well. As for people's attitudes here in Sarnia, while it is pretty homophobic here, I came out to 4 people this week, two of them today, and everyone has been supportive & understanding so far. So not everybody is narrow-minded. It really depends on where you are I guess & who it is. It seems at the rate I'm going, I should be out to everyone in my college program before the end of this year & from all indications, no one seems to be bothered by my being trans or lesbian so far, so I'm encouraged that the whole journey I have ahead of me for the next couple years will be around people who are all supportive. Then again, we are all law students, so that may make a difference as well... __________________ Penny: What's Sheldon's deal? Leonard: What do you mean "deal"? Penny : You know, like, what's his deal? Is it girls? Guys? Sock puppets? Leonard: Honestly, we've been operating under the assumption that he has no deal.

21st Oct 2011, 05:35 PM	#13
Just Adam Just passing through Full Member Gender: Something Orientation: Dunno Out Status: If they ask i will tell them Location: Wherever Age: 23 Posts: 6,002 Join Date: Mar 2009	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. I feel very bad for them Its not fair that buisnesses can get away with these acts of discrimination. __________________ There Used To Be A Point Of Things.

21st Oct 2011, 05:45 PM	#14
kiersten KierstenChromium, Mistress Of Metal Full Member Gender: Transgender - MtF Orientation: Lesbian Out Status: Out to 127 people & my parents & 1 cousin so far Location: Sarnia, ON Posts: 1,331 Join Date: Jun 2011	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. I think that, had Jack lived longer, he would have had an excellent chance at being Prime Minister in the next election., Revan. It was such a sad loss for everyone, and even Jack's opponents respected him & what he tried to accomplish. Something I always did find confusing tho, was that the Conservatives are against same-sex marriage but they were the same party that ADDED sex-reassignment surgery for trans people so that it was covered under OHIP. Weird... As for this whole mess, yep, none of my classmates & especially my law professor were impressed with this. Pretty much everyone I told about this incident acted with disgust towards this Rev. person & the manager of the Timmies. So there are defitinely quite a few people in my life who aren't gay, but also don't tolerate this kind of crap either. Which is amazing to know, since I see all of them everyday & enjoy being friends with them! One of my friends said that this manager pretty much just lost his franchise because of this as well, since it will get back to corporate & they dont tolerate that sort of thing, or so he said anyway, I'm not sure how he knew all of that... __________________ Penny: What's Sheldon's deal? Leonard: What do you mean "deal"? Penny : You know, like, what's his deal? Is it girls? Guys? Sock puppets? Leonard: Honestly, we've been operating under the assumption that he has no deal.

21st Oct 2011, 06:29 PM	#15
starfish This space for lease. Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: I like guys Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Hippie Town, Alberta of the US Age: 31 Posts: 2,111 Join Date: Nov 2008	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. Damn, I like Tim Hortons. It is one of the reasons I go to Canada. Though really this was just a jack ass manager. __________________ All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work. --Thomas J. Watson

23rd Oct 2011, 07:12 PM	#19
Mystery Member Regular Member Gender: Male Orientation: Not sure (still trying to figure it out) Out Status: Long story Location: Ontario Age: 21 Posts: 43 Join Date: Nov 2010	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. I'm from Chatham- Kent and have family in Blenheim (One of which happens to be a lesbian) and I know for a fact that that minister (and that whole church for that matter) are pricks about that. If memory serves me correctly, I'm pretty sure that that's the church my aunt was kicked out of when she met her partner. And Blenheim has never been particularly "gay-friendly" to begin with. Things have changed since I lived there but that's how I remember it. Last edited by Mystery; 23rd Oct 2011 at 07:16 PM..

23rd Oct 2011, 08:14 PM	#20
RaeofLite I've got the moves like Jagger Full Member Gender: ♀ Orientation: Sapphicly inclined Out Status: My closet is for clothes! Location: BC, Canada Age: 23 Posts: 3,111 Join Date: Apr 2009	Re: Queer couple thrown out of Tim Hortons, claiming “Family Friendly Environment”.. What I would have done? I would have honestly stayed there till the cops showed up and then claimed a hate crime against the manager/pastor. __________________ People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." -Bonnie Jean Wasmund (and the lesbians)