Houston Landscaper Refuses To Work For Gay Customers

KPRC Channel 2 ^ | 10/20/2006 | unknown

[fhlh]

HOUSTON -- An e-mail from a Houston-area landscaper that said he chose not to do work for homosexuals has spread nationwide, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Michael Lord wanted to spruce up the outside of his home in the Heights, so he asked the "Garden Guy" to create an outdoor work of art.

But he was rejected based on his sexual orientation....

More at http://www.click2houston.com/news/10124161/detail.html

video of the report http://www.click2houston.com/video/10124116/index.html

[fhlh]

this is news???

[raybbr]

It's good news....

[Jaysun]

But he was rejected based on his sexual orientation....

So what?

[RichInOC]

Okay, I'm sorry, but this is just funny.

[Cicero]

Did the homeowner ask him to sculpt his bushes into scatalogical shapes?

[Bigh4u2]

"But he was rejected based on his sexual orientation...."

So call a 'gay' landscaper.

What's the problem?

Why do these people think they must be pandered too by everyone?

The landscaper, being a private business man, has a choice. And he made it.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

There are a few jobs where I may not discriminate as to who receives my services.

Landscaping is not one of them.

[goldstategop]

Its news because liberals want to force their politically correct opinions on others. There are gay-friendly landscapers to serve gay customers. Why pick on one who doesn't want them for clients, for moral reasons?

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[sine_nomine]

House rules. Every bar has them.

[fso301]

If I lived in Houston, I know who I'd be calling for landscaping.Guy is probably swamped with business.

[P-40]

It is a butt-ugly house anyway.

[CAWats]

I remember when gay meant happy.

[Oberon]

So call a 'gay' landscaper.

She'll get the job done right!

[Robwin]

Say, does this fall under the category "Freedom of Choice"? No I suppose not.

[CindyDawg]

Nice house. The yard does need some work though. My question is how did the company even know? Did he call up and say "Hi. I'm a homosexual"?

[John Jorsett]

Opponents are calling for a boycott.

So, if you refuse to work for us, we're going to boycott you? That'll be effective ...

[Psycho_Bunny]

Activists Want to Create Gay Neighborhood

Saturday, January 22, 2005

SPOKANE, Wash. —  Gay activists in this staid Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife — a development religious conservatives contend would clash with Spokane's family-centered culture.

"A gay mecca is not what we'd like to see Spokane marketed as," said Penny Lancaster, director of Community Impact Spokane (search), a network of evangelical Christians. "I'd rather see us promoted as a conservative, family-oriented community without any reference to sexual orientation."

But proponents of the plan say a gay district would signal that Spokane is tolerant and progressive.

"There is a very large gay population here," said Bonnie Aspen, a business owner who arrived with her partner two years ago to escape the congestion of the San Francisco Bay (search) area.

Spokane — which in trendy Seattle is shorthand for tragically unhip — has long been dominated by conservative politics that stem from its history as a mining and farming center. But it also has a large core of Democrats and libertarians who share the West's live-and-let-live philosophy.

[netmilsmom]

>>The Garden Guy Inc. has been operating in Houston since 1991. Company officials said they do not refuse service with malicious intent, and they said they do not hate homosexuals.<<

This is what the militant gays don't understand. I don't hate gays. I don't hate my sister because after two husbands and four kids she found her inner lesbian.

I do hate the lifestyle and will not choose to be around them. If I can't tell that you are homosexual, if my children can't tell, I can be around you. If I can, you are off the Christmas list.

[Islander2]

Exactly. And a homeowner should have the right to reject a homo landscaper. Trees are for shade and utility, not for hugging..... the exception being fruit trees of course.


MAHALO

[theBuckwheat]

If the MSM doesn't have a problem with Islamic cabbies being able to refuse to take passengers who have booze in their luggate, then they should not have a problem with personal private decision.

[netmilsmom]

>>So, if you refuse to work for us, we're going to boycott you? That'll be effective ...<<

LOLOLOLOLOL!

I never thought about it that way! Spot on!

[Tax Government]

Freedom of association implies freedom NOT to associate.

[livius]

I think his action was ridiculous, unless he was being asked to create some special thing (two giant phallus-shaped topiaries, for example) that would have involved active approval of homosexuality. What business person can scrutinize all their customers? And who even has the right to scrutinize all his customers, unless he himself is being asked to do something immoral? If you don't want a job, just turn it down quietly.

This is like the Muslim cabbies refusing to carry people they suspect may be carrying alcohol; he is doing it simply to make a point and call attention to himself, and it's a silly and inapplicable point, at that.

[highlander_UW]

So what are they looking to do...drag the landscaper out there and force him to trim the bushes?

[humblegunner]

Ping!

[gcruse]

Capitalism still trumps bigotry. Life is good.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Michael Lord wanted to spruce up the outside of his home in the Heights, so he asked the "Garden Guy" to create an outdoor work of art.

Typical gays. Why do they have to fancy up everything? What did he want, Japanese cherry blossom trees planted?Just trim the hedges & cut the lawn or whatever and be done with it and crack open a beer.

[meyer]

"Gay activists in this staid Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife — a development religious conservatives contend would clash with Spokane's family-centered culture."

It would seem counter-productive to me to limit ones' future home-selling market to 1% of the population.

[CindyDawg]

We need more info. Was this company targeted because of their web site? What caused the owner to decline? There are a lot of feminine men that are hetro so , how would the owner know unless he was told? If he was informed, why would the customer volunteer information about his sexual preferences to a landscaper?

[kawaii]

contracted labor should be able to refuse to work regardless of reason. THEY ARE NOT SURFS!

[Loyalist]

Whatever happened to the right to refuse service?

[highlander_UW]

I had some of those same questions in mind as well...especially, how did the landscaper know they were gay? Possibly they were so flamboyant and in his face he was offended, although we don't really know given the info provided.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"It is a butt-ugly house anyway."

To a butt pirate, that's divine.

[gcruse]

Serf's up!

[mjwise]

This is like the Muslim cabbies refusing to carry people they suspect may be carrying alcohol; he is doing it simply to make a point and call attention to himself, and it's a silly and inapplicable point, at that.

Hear hear. Maybe if the Muslim cabbies refused to carry gay people it would make everyone happy?

I think trying to judge who you want to be your customers based on perceived sinfulness is a waste of time.

[Bernard Marx]

drag the landscaper out there and force him to trim the bushes?

On your knees, scum! Get that part of the bush right down...there! Oh yeah!

Actually, a simple "I'm too busy to take on new work" would probably have sufficed. But independent contractors can turn down any customers they want. If the guy refused to hire a gay employee, that's an entirely different matter.

[Liberty Valance]

From Boortz.com

[catholicfreeper]

"this is news???"

I suspect 99 percent of people gay or straight don't care. However we have all clicked on the station webs site and saw their ads. A gay right organization gets some publicity and some family froup gets their members excited. All in all great excitement for the 1 percent that cares and both sides get some extra publicity.

[Dan Evans]

The landscaper, being a private business man, has a choice.

That's the way it should be. But for some reason the Constitution has been interpreted so that you lose your rights if you are engaged in commerce.

It reminds me of the case in Chicago many years ago when a woman was fined by the city because she advertised for a "Christian handyman" to live in the spare unit behind her house.

I would like to see a Constitutional amendment to preserve our right of free association but I doubt if it would happen because it would nullify the civil rights act of 1964.

[NorseWood]

Why didn't one of the couple who owned the house mow the lawn themself? Who wears the pants in the family? Opps!

[Dan Evans]

But independent contractors can turn down any customers they want.

In some places, taxi drivers can lose their license if they refuse customers.

miami cabs

[sakic]

This is what the militant gays don't understand. I don't hate gays. I don't hate my sister because after two husbands and four kids she found her inner lesbian. I do hate the lifestyle and will not choose to be around them. If I can't tell that you are homosexual, if my children can't tell, I can be around you. If I can, you are off the Christmas list.

It's sad that you refuse to allow your sister in your life or your children's lives.

[Dan Evans]

I think trying to judge who you want to be your customers based on perceived sinfulness is a waste of time.

I think it is a very good idea to be choosy about who you do business with. For one thing, you have to be sure your client intends to pay you. You are more likely to be cheated by a sinner. There are all kinds of hazards in associating with people who have bad habits. If they don't care about themselves, why would they care about you.

[gaijin]

I live in SF, and as a straight, you have to kind of watch it, somteimes:

Some gay dudes are weird, they sometimes assume that if you're just civil to them, then that's means you want a date, or something.

And they start giving you the gay, "are you...?!" vibe.

It's really gross, and I hate to say it, but sometimes if you don't shut it down early, it can lead to huge misunderstandings.

He was probably just really polite, and that gay dude got really comfortable, and pretty soon was offering him a BJ, or wanting one, or something.

This does happen, and when you lay it out, "Hey, whoa! You're barkin' up the wrong tree..." some of them react in a really bitchy way.

SORRY..!

[linda_22003]

Catching the right wave has nothing to do with it.

(Wait - could you possibly have meant "serfs"?)

[vvpete]

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe he asks all of his prospective customers what their sexual orientation is....

[Nathan Zachary]

"I think his action was ridiculous,"

Why? He's gotten free advertizing that he probably could never have afforded to buy.

[mjwise]

Um, that's why you have work contracts and downpayment requirements. Don't confuse someone's public appearance with their private morality. Failure to discriminate between the two allowed scamola televangelists to flourish, for example.

P.S. From a Christian perspective, we are all sinners. YMMV.

[Charles Henrickson]

Call Edward Scissorshands.

[festus]

LOL. Well perhaps they haven't thought that one all the way through.........