Claiming he has never refused to serve the homosexual community, Oak Leaf, Kentucky printer Matthew Lombard has come under fire for posting a sign on his storefront property Herald Embroidery which states, “While we will serve all customers who treat our place of business with respect, we reserve the right to refuse to produce promotional products that promote ideas that are not in keeping with our conscience. This include, but is not limited to content promoting HOMOSEXUALITY, FREEMASONRY, the use of FOUL LANGUAGE and imagery which promotes IMMODESTY.”
Lombard, for his part, denies the accusation that he is refusing to serve members of the LGBT community. He has made clear that his policy has been misrepresented, and he is only refusing to produce T-shirts and other products that would bear messages supporting homosexuality. He said he is not denying access to the store for homosexual people.
Matthew Boyd, however, sees it differently, according to a local report on TheLeafChronicle.com. Josh Boyd of Kentucky created the Facebook site, which claims Herald Embroidery “is so unabashedly anti-gay that a sign on the storefront’s window brazenly lets you know that no LGBT person … is allowed inside the store.” The page includes a photo of several signs on the shop’s door stating what is and isn’t allowed inside, and among them is a gay pride flag covered by a “not” symbol. Many have taken that symbol to mean “no gays allowed.” I appreciate that the owner is exercising his First Amendment right,” Boyd told The Leaf-Chronicle, “but the general public also has the First Amendment right to boycott his establishment. Respecting these freedoms is really what this is all about.”
The Leaf Chronicle goes on to say that, “The perception that Herald Embroidery denies access to gays has been fueled by several online media reports and even a mention on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report. Lombard said he considers many of these reports to be unfairly slanted against him. As a result of them, he said, there have been death and “homosexual rape” threats against him and his family.
And in a response to a Facebook page that Boyd created, Lombard was forced to defend himself against accusations that he refused to serve a lesbian couple. “The recent claim to the contrary, that we had denied service to a lesbian couple, is libelous. The posting, which appeared as an online review of our business, is a complete fabrication and appears to have been circulated in an attempt to mischaracterize our conduct as analogous to racial segregation policies in the 20th century,” Lombard wrote.
Lombard said he has no plans to remove the current sign on his business door, or to change his store policy.
So Matthew Lombard is okay with serving the gay community so long as “serving” fits his parameters. Sorry, Matt, that’s not serving, that’s servitude.
A business that is “Open To The Public” should not be allowed to discriminate against people (PERIOD). If we, as Americans, allow this to happen, then we will have businesses discriminating against the handicap, blacks, whites, Islamics, Christians, Females, Males, Children, the elderly, or even for people who may be carrying a Harry Potter Book. NO, if you are in business and open to the public you have no right to pick and choose which customers you serve or what you serve to them, that is simply AGAINST THE LAW! If your religious consciousness is going to be affected, then don’t open a public establishment. This is really sickening that we allow this to happen in the 21st century.