The removal of a lesbian couple from a Tim Hortons near London, Ontario, has prompted dozens to plan a protest of the doughnut shop on Thursday.
Riley Duckworth, 25, told the Globe & Mail that she and girlfriend Patricia Pattenden, 23, were outside drinking coffee with a some friends and family members three weeks ago when the assistant manager came out and asked the couple to stop doing what they were doing and leave.
Duckworth says her partner had her hand around her waist, and kissed her on the cheek once or twice but Tim Hortons spokesperson Alexandra Cygal claimed the women’s behavior “went beyond public displays of affection and was making other guests feel uncomfortable.”
“The manager said that our behaviour was inappropriate and that it was a family friendly establishment and it wasn’t acceptable there,” said Duckworth. “We would need to leave within five minutes or the cops would be called.”
We’d love to know what exactly the ladies would be charged with. Public display of lesbianism?
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Duckworth said her group decided to leave to avoid a scene but that as they departed, the pastor at a local church—who its believed was the one who complained about the couple to the restaurant staff—held a prayer circle with more than a dozen people in the parking lot to “pray for the couple’s souls.”
Who’s praying for the arteries of the people inside who are stuffing themselves on jelly doughnuts?
Image via Stringparts
christopher di spirito
This isn’t the first time Tim Hortons got bust for their questionable toward the gay community.
A few years ago, Tim Hortons was in the news for providing coffee and donuts (lots of donuts) to Maggie Gallagher and NOM, gratis. When the outcry reached a fever pitch, Tim Hortons released a statement apologizing for their behavior.
the crustybastard
Same asswipe who had Leisha Hailey and her girlfriend thrown off their Southwest flight, and had the St. Louis lesbians ejected from their hotel pool?
Or is this just the latest trend?
I’m sure Misogynist Jason will be along shortly to lecture us about how lesbians are so much better tolerated by society, and how they’re probably just bisexuals who deserve to be punished for exhibitionistic kissing for the sole purpose of titillating heterosexual men.
Or some such shit.
Michael
Ignorance is bliss as they say this pastor and his sheep must be extremely happy morons.
What a wimp also being uncomfortable about someone showing someone else that they love them its called AFFECTION you stupid preacher.Apparently he must live in a loveless marriage the prude no surprise with hypocrites like him and his sheep followers.
suzygoo
Looks like there is more to the story then what is reported in Queerty! My momma always said to me “It take two to tango”.
http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/10/25/tim-hortons-protest-hits-snag-as-lesbian-and-gay-community-back-pastor/
kylew
Why has everyone assumed that the manager was lying? gay people lie too you know, and some of them are not beyond orchestrating situations where they can be “victimised” just so they can can say “told you so”.
The manager says it went beyond just a couple of pecks on the cheek. Maybe it did. If two hets were sitting there with their tongues down each others’ throats, or their hands where they shouldn’t have been in public, it would have been equally inappropriate.
Maybe they were like those two British assholes (I’m British) who just got imprisoned in Dubai for having sex on the beach of a muslim country after already being warned by a local policeman.
If you’re a selfish jerk with no self-restraint or consideration for the feelings of others, you deserve what you get.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@suzygoo:
You’re quoting the National Post; second only to The Sun in it’s anti-gay bias.
Little Kiwi
can anyone point to any case where heterosexuals got kicked out of a cafe for kissing too much? really? i mean, COME ON.
oh, and the piece from the National Post? The Post, for those who dont’ know, is not a real newspaper – it’s canada’s equivalent to the new york post, or any other fox-news-funded trash rag.
the national post has a history of anti-gay slants in nearly all of their LGBT-focused articles. articles against Pride, articles against teaching children to not bully LGBT kids in school, and on and on.
it’s about as reliable a source as the KKK is on their black history month reports.
Little Kiwi
is it possible that it was two trashy young people who were overdoing it? yes.
however, i think anyone here who’s lived Out in the real world can attest to the sad fact that to far too many people a simple show of affection or anything that reminds people that we’re GAY is considered “too much, shoving it down people’s throats, waving it in our faces” and on and on.
and the national post? the *paper* is a JOKE to all educated Canadians. the “gays” who were quoted who side with the pastor? again – think GOProud, folks. There will always be cowards who suck up to the bully in the hope that it will save their own asses. and taking into account what happened after…well….if it wasn’t about them being gay there wouldn’t have been some prayer circle afterward.
Cam
I LOVE it when people with brand new screenames always come on here and click links to anti-gay papers as PROOF.
Here is a quote from one of the articles, that the National Post seemed to leave out…
“The release said the minister stared the couple down, complained about the couple to a manager and later held an impromptu prayer service for the couple in the parking lot, according to the release. ”
Oh yeah, he’s really pro-gay when he’s holding a prayer service against them.
Suzi also left out that he is a PENTACOSTAL minister.
Ray
Do they put up with this short of thing in Canada? I thought the government had the right to step in and handle discrimination there.
kylew
@Little Kiwi: Yes, you make a fair point, and I missed the link to the full story, which makes it clear that the manager was acting on the complaints of a single customer, and that this asshole then held a prayer meeting in the parking lot. It would have taken all my willpower not to run them all over on the way out!
I’m so glad I hate christianity. I’d hate people to think for one second that I agreed with this shit.
Eli Clyne
@ Dan Avery. I put your name and the name of Queerty in the title of a comment I wrote to our local paper, the Hamilton Spectator. I quoted you,”We’d love to know what exactly the ladies would be charged with. Public display of lesbianism?” All comments were closed and removed two minutes after posting. I’m sure it was only coincidence, still I appreciate sites like yours that allow free flow of comments, unlike our patronizing liberal press.
drumstick
I feel for the kid who is the manager. He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. The minister is a prick and demands that he do something about the situation, which the poor kid probably didn’t even see. Even if Tim’s had an anti-discrimination policy, it’s hard to get employees to decline another customer’s request for action, even if it’s relgiously motivated. Asking the lesbians to leave probably seemed like the fastest way to defuse a hostile customer. Shameful, yes, but it takes a lot of courage to stand up to bigotry…more than most teenagers can handle. Retail hell.
They should really be protesting the pastor’s church…
Mr. Enemabag Jones
I’m calling bullshit on the reverend for one specific reason:
He said he could see them sitting on each others laps, with their hands down their pants. Well, I’ve worked in Blenheim, where this Timmie’s is, on various jobs, and I’ve bought coffee and snacks from this location. And I’ve sat on the bench my damn self.
The bench has a seat back that would obscure the view from inside the shop. Unless the reverend has X-ray vision, he could not see what they were, or were not doing, while seated on the bench.
Secondly, the women were surrounded by 9 family members, including one of the girls mothers, who was actually sitting on the bench with the two women. One of the women has stated she would never do anything unseemly in public, much less in front of her mother.
Lastly, if you see a picture of the two women, frankly they look like boys. The shorter thinner woman has boyish features, and dresses like a male. The other woman has short hair, and is a big girl, who because of her clothes could pass for a male. I have a sinking suspicion, the good reverend thought he was looking at two boys, contrary to his claims that he thought they were a straight couple.
Chances are the reverend saw what he thought were two boys give each other a kiss on the cheek. So he brought forth the “Won’t someone think of the children!” argument to harass what he probably thought were two gay boys.
Here’s a link to Xtra, where more details are available:
http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Queer_couple_kicked_out_of_Ontario_Tim_Hortons-10955.aspx
And here’s a link to the article showing a picture of the shop, with the bench out front:
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/10/24/18869591.html#/news/london/2011/10/24/pf-18869591.html
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@drumstick:
They should really be protesting the pastor’s church…
They have. And now the reverend is playing the victim, and has actually convinced a gay man, and a transgendered woman that he is really pro-gay, and those nasty, mean gays are harassing him. You can read this in the NaPo link posted by suzygoo in comment #4.
Shannon1981
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: This pastor is despicable. So is the Time Horton’s “apology.”Good thing I don’t live in Buffalo anymore. No more timmy ho’s for me.
Cam
So Tim Hortons has now given free stuff to NOM, and kicked out two lesbians for being lesbians.
EqualAction
I was at a play arena for kids when I spotted a heterosexual couple straddling each other & making out. I complained to management about the behavior. After 10 minutes, management finally asked them to leave. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Robbie K.
I always like my prayer circles with a double double
fredo777
No need for me to boycott them. I’ve never liked their pathetic donut offerings + don’t eat there anyway.
sabatghzl1098
Let’s expand the PDA ban to EVERYONE. People need to keep that shit to themselves.
Jake
Tim Horton’s is the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts.
Nobody wants to see two lesbians have a PDA in public while they’re drinking coffee or eating.
Hell I’m gay and I don’t want to see two men or ANYONE do a PDA in public.
Mike Hipp
Oh Hell naw! These are Canadian lesbians in a Canadian establishment. Oh yeah, Canadian thrown down.
Little
public displays of affection are stupid, homo or hetero. get a room! at the very least, don’t be surprised or offended if someone asks you to leave or stop. fact – NO-ONE WANTS TO SEE YOU MAKE OUT WITH YOUR PARTNER.
Just some girl
Little Kiwi “can anyone point to any case where heterosexuals got kicked out of a cafe for kissing too much?”
OF course not. If a heterosexual couple was kicked out of a cafe for too much PDA it simply wouldn’t be news worthy. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
I’m all for pda, but if they were seriously straddling each other and putting hands down each others pants they deserved to be called out on it.
Kicking them out was extreme, they could have simply asked them to stop.
That doesn’t mean i believe that these two were ‘just’ pecking.
Sometimes PDA starts with pecking and gets a little out of hand.
Kat
I don’t believe that this was a case of homophobia. In my community, lesbian couples are ver open about PDA’s, as though trying to make a statement. I have lesbian friends who have admitted they find it amusing to PDA to get reactions from people. I think anyone who was being too public would have been asked to leave. When I was younger I was asked to leave a Tim Horton’s for kissing my then fiancee on the mouth a couple of times. A little more than a peck, but not like we were making out or anything. Tim Horton’s and other family friendly establishments have the right to ask someone who is being overly public to leave. Just because they are lesbians doesn’t change things any for them, they are the same as anyone else.
Kat
I don’t believe that this was a case of homophobia. In my community, lesbian couples are very open about PDA’s, as though trying to make a statement. I have lesbian friends who have admitted they find it amusing to PDA to get reactions from people. I think anyone who was being too public would have been asked to leave. When I was younger I was asked to leave a Tim Horton’s for kissing my then fiancee on the mouth a couple of times. A little more than a peck, but not like we were making out or anything. Tim Horton’s and other family friendly establishments have the right to ask someone who is being overly public to leave. Just because they are lesbians doesn’t change things any for them, they are the same as anyone else.
mike1n11
the only time its nice to see chicks making out is at a club.. other then that i dont need to see that shit when im downing an iced capp