The All Occasion Party Place Hates The Gays

Ben Allen and Justin Hudgins are getting married, and planning a lovely wedding; the flowers, decorations, food. All was going well until Allen called one venue—the All Occasion Party Place near Fort Worth—and got the Gay Smackdown when he said he was marrying a man.

“She immediately responded with, ‘Well, no, I don’t do that,’ and that was just the end of that. It felt like somebody had just hit me in the face.”--Ben Allen

Allen and Hudgins were told both by phone and via e-mail that the All Occasion Party Place won’t serve gays.

“It is because of God that I will not be a part in your reception, and I know he loves you, but not what you are doing. I simply said I can not rent to you which is also my right.”—Robin Hearne, an All Occasion Party Place employee, via e-mail

I can totally get it; you don’t believe in same-sex marriage. Then don’t run any kind of business that might cater to same-sex couples wanting to get married. If the All Occasion Party Place had said they don’t rent to Jews, we’d all be pissed off; if they didn’t rent to Blacks, there would be outrage. But some folks think that if they toss around their religious beliefs they can get away with discrimination. And they can’t. Well, except that it’s a venue in Texas, where, unlike race or religion, state laws don’t consider sexual orientation a protected class.

The Gays may not be considered a protected class at the state level, but cities and towns, even in Texas, have been passing their own discrimination laws to protect The Gays from places like the All Occasion Party Place—which should change their name to the Some Occasions, But Not The Gay Occasion, Party Place.

Fort Worth has been one of those cities in Texas that have expanded their laws to not only forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation, but also the more loosely-defined terms of gender identity and gender expression; the law applies to many groups of people and protects them from discrimination whether they are an employee or a customer. Sadly, though, the All Occasion Party Place sits just outside Fort Worth’s city limits, so they can be hateful and bigoted and homophobic and, well wrong.

“There’s nothing illegal about it,” said Peter Schulte, a Dallas attorney who has handled gay rights cases, but is not working on this one. “If a restaurant puts out a sign that says, ‘We’re not going to accept gays and lesbians,’ then they can do that.”

And I think they should. Please, please, please, all you bigots and homophobes and Bible thumping wingnuts who run businesses, please post signs saying No Queers Allowed, or Fags Stay Out. I want people to know you discriminate; and I want people who find discrimination of any kind to find your business, like the All Occasion Party Place, to be a disgusting business and not worthy of patronage from anyone. You don’t want The Gays, or, apparently, in this economy, the Gay’s Money? Good; then be prepared to have other folks decide they don’t want to give their Straight Dollars either.

In the end, the All Occasion Party Place has trampled on what could have been a happy occasion for a couple, and have denied yourself income because you found a passage or two in the Bible that says it’s okay to act like complete asshats to other people.

“We’re just people. We’re not a gay couple... we’re a couple that loves each other.”--Justin Hudgins

And that should be worth having a party.

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