Drawing a comparison, asshole? Because as far as I can tell, you DON’T KNOW DICK about what actually unfolded, and apparently, it WAS THE KISS THAT GOT THEM BOOTED.

If nothing notable happens, then great. If something does, the media will be filming gay people being removed from the restaurant for kissing.

As a vegetarian, I haven’t eaten at Chico’s in a very long time (although I’ve been there to watch my family eat), but I now have reason never to set foot there again in my life. I live off the same street as the restaurant, too (the restaurant pictured is not the location this happened at, either). That creeps me out now.

Perhaps the worst part is that Chico’s Tacos is extremely popular here and seen as a source of pride for the city by many. The chances of any boycotts seriously affecting them are slim (especially since the LGBT-friendly population in El Paso is quite small, too.

No, it’s not an “America” thing, either, unless your idea of the rest of the world is select countries in Europe.

There are plenty of places in the world where gays face persecution, both de facto and de jure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L....._territory

The (limited) upside of this situation is it gives progressive and/or GLBT supportive El Paso-ans an opportunity to be seen and heard, defending that their city isn’t solely populated with retrograde fucktards.

Moreover, it’s an incorrect generalization. Behavior like this wouldn’t fly in Austin. A state trooper tried something similar against a gay couple kissing at the capitol, and local groups got that officer suspended:

http://www.pamspaulding.com/we.....lling.html

Our liberal cities (Austin, Dallas, and, to some degree, Houston) have similar political demographics to the rest other U.S. liberal cities. Moreover, such state/city disparity is quite common. New York City, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Charlotte are all strong, liberal political outliers in conservative states.

I’m getting a little tired of judging entire states, whether it be for discrimination in El Paso or for voting in Prop 8. “Texas” and “California” are just states, not states of mind.

On an unrelated note, please stop referring to the Lawrence v. Texas case for this. L v. T was decided on the basis of privacy, not scrutiny for sexual orientation-based discrimination. It’s unlikely to be useful in any way against a *public* gay kissing ban (which doesn’t exist in Texas, anyway).

Naturally we’d offer you all in Texas/Oklahoma refugee status. In exchange we’d deport all of our red-neck homo haters.

p.s. Chico’s is easy to boycott. Their food is crap and their staff is slovenly and rude.

I relate this event only because tjhe gay community has become lacidisical about gay rightsm, just as the American people have about human rights . If you don’t demand of your servants and government that they take a proactive stance you can end up with all kinds of laws on the books but no real protection.

In most places CIVIL RIGHTS mean only the rights of blacks and women; Gays be screwed. Even in the most liberal places. We need our own people in positions of power who are willing to put their lives on the line as in Stonewall: no difference, but a few years. I caught a quote by Tony Kushner the other day that goes like today liberals have become Radicals , Radicals, crazy; reactionaries have become moderates, the insane are solid conservatives.
We live in a much more dangerous and in many ways more dangerous than before. Laws are only as good as their administrators.

The Bible Belt doesn’t mean that gays get beat in the face for showing public affection.

I am white and my boyfriend is black and we kiss in public all the time! In fact, we honestly get more stares due to the interracial aspect. Did I mention I live in a mid-sized city in South Carolina?

What happened at Chico’s Tacos was disgusting and ignorant, and they should pursue lawsuits, etc. But don’t blame it on the region. Ignorant, racist, homophobic people are everywhere! Trust me, I have traveled to the northern states quite frequently.

Question: Are there really a lot of public places in Texas outisde of the gay enclaves in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Galveston where you won’t get crap for kissing a member of the same sex? I can’t stand the Bible belt and would never conceive of kissing someone in public there no matter what the laws said. But they should have stuck around for the citation, their lawsuit against the City of El Paso PD and Chicos Tacos would have made them some good money!!!

Does SLC stand for Salt Lake City? Because you got some fucktards over there as who could compete with the ones we have in Texas.

There’s still a lot of progressive gay people in places like Houston and Austin. You want to kick us out of the union too? How about you guys who have all the answers come on down and help us out? If all the gays move to texas maybe we can out number the righttards and elect some more liberals. Don’t be hating, come help effect some change.

And what’s up with Texas of late??? And you can’t even get good Mexican food in West Texas for what its worth!

And their ignorance of civil-rights laws would be hilarious if it wasn’t so scary:

“Every business has the right to refuse service. They have the right to refuse service to whoever they don’t want there. That’s their prerogative.”