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According to The Washington Blade (July 17, 1998, pg. 12, col. 1) Darden Restaurants, the owner of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and the new Bahama Breeze restaurant chains, wants to be able to fire employees solely because those employees are Gay. Darden Restaurants is going to court to try and get Cook County, Illinois human rights ordinance -- which prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, and other categories, in matters of employment, housing, public accommodations and credit transactions -- declared unconstitutional. Their action comes in response to an order from the Cook County Human Rights Commission that they reinstate a Gay employee who was repeatedly ridiculed and eventually fired because of his sexual orientation. The restaurant is not trying to claim that it did not discriminate - it is acknowledging that it *did* discriminate, and that civil rights laws which prevent them from acting on their bigotry are unconstitutional! This is not just a company that supports an anti-Gay "foundation;" This is not just a company that discriminates and tries to cover it up; (although those examples are bad enough!) This is a company that is actively seeking to overturn important civil rights legislation - which would open the doors for countless other firings, harassment, and other forms of discrimination. I know many of you often eat at these restaurants (I have as well), but Red Lobster and The Olive Garden are not establishments you should support. Next time you're tempted to eat at Red Lobster or The Olive Garden, imagine your Lesbian daughter/sister/granddaughter/aunt/niece/friend/mother/lover/self being fired solely because she's a lesbian -- for no other reason. Or imagine your Gay son/brother/grandson/uncle/nephew/friend/father/lover/self losing his housing - or being unable to find a place to live - solely because he's Gay. There are hundreds of other restaurants out there -- ones that aren't using your money to take away the civil rights of those you know and love. Patronize them, but not Red Lobster or The Olive Garden. BOYCOTT RED LOBSTER AND THE OLIVE GARDEN. Please forward this on to as many persons as possible.
30 responses total.
I boycotted Cracker Barrel for this very reason. I never go to Red Lobster or the Olive Garden anyway...too expensive. But now I'll avoid them like the plague.
Wow. I've never been a big fan of either, but that's definitely
something worth boycotting.
I've avoided Cracker Barrel for the same reason too. I haven't seen anything about the Darden Restaurants business in the news. Does anybody know where there's info about it, other than what Misti quoted in resp:0?
I still boycott Cracker Barrel, and boycotting Red Lobster is going to be a major sacrifice, but I will. *sigh*
Ditto Olive Garden for me. Red Lobster isn't someplace I ever go.
Isn`t ChiChis also in that chain>
Oh, no! I don't know. (Not that I love ChiChi's or anything but it's getting harder and harder to eat out these day!)
Business Summary Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a full service restaurant organization. DRI operates 1,118 restaurants under the names: ``Red Lobster'', ``The Olive Garden'' and ``Bahama Breeze''. Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/p/d/dri.html
This may not be the place, but since we are discussing anti-gay behavior, Lewis Powell passed away today. He is the Supreme who admitted that he made a mistake by allowing homosexual activity within the privacy of one's home. May he burn in hell for that. Privacy is privacy, and as long as it's legal no one has a right to tell you what sex is legal or not.
Perhaps you mean "as long as it hurts no one"?
Re #9: I think you've got it backwards about Powell. According to the obituary published in the New York Times, he voted with the majority (i.e. against extending Roe vs. Wade to apply to rights of homosexuals to consensual sex), but later -- after his retirement from the Supreme Court -- stated that he regretted his vote and that "the dissent had the better of the arguments".
Yeah, thanks John. re 10. Yes, I meant what you said.
Hrm..I'll have to check on that-- don't know if I can get a copy of the Washington Blade. I always found myself overstuffed at the Olive Garden anyway. Hmm..hafta see..not much for political action
Any updates on the status of all this?
None that I've heard about -- and I'm looking because I really *like* Red Lobster.
What relation do the local Lobster & Garden have to corporate HQ and what attitude are they adopting on this? Are they loyal corporate cogs in the Nazi hate machine, flunkies ignoring the big shots' stupid ideas in order to get their own jobs done, or what?
Man's got a point. I think writing the company might be more effective, either by letter, or by formal petition.
I'm kind of busy this summer...anyone else want to look into this and report back? Anyone got press cedentials they could use to interview the local managers? I'd absolutely *love* to hear that the local managers were against this hate mongering and were to be supported...
is there an e-mail or snail mail address for darden restaurants? i'd love to send them some mail every week or so.
If you have comments for Olive Garden Guest Relations, please feel free to call us at 1-800-331-2729 between the hours of 8:30AM and 5:00PM EST Monday through Friday or write us at: Olive Garden Guest Relations P.O. BOX 592037 Orlando, FL 32859-2037 Red Lobster 5900 Lake Ellenor Dr. Orlando, FL. 32809
I have a few gay friends who work for Rock Lobster, one of which is a Vice President in training, and they don't seem to have any problems-- and they're both very out. I've also been served by some pretty queeny servers at the Carpenter Rd store. ,
now that you mention that, I recall an incident at Olive Garden. Val had been complaining that all the restaurants we'd been to recently had had waitresses, who flirted with me and ignored her. she was happy to see that, at the olive garden, we finally got a waiter... until he started flirting with me and ignoring her, too.
Well, the circumstantial evidence suggetss that at least the local stores are bucking the trend from headquarters...I'm very glad to hear that! (Ultimate Feast, here I come!) ;)
I finally called and talked to someone fairly high up at Red Lobster. This person was very surprised to hear about this rumour in circulation and assured me that at least in the Ann Arbor area there is no such policy or inclination.
That's nice to know. Thanks for checking into it.
Same here, mta, especially since my mother, my sister, and yours truly have tentative plans to go to either Red Lobster or Olive Garden next Sunday.
thanks for checking, mta. trying to explain to my father why i had suddenl;y become reluctant to go to his favorite restaurants would have been awkward, to say the least. not to metion the fact that it's good to learn this is a rumor. btw, do you think red lobster/olive garden's parent company will work to suppress this rumor now that it has been brought to their attention?
I probably shouldn't add my two cents to this conversation, since technically I'm not that visible, but, I've never heard of difficulties in either of the establishments named and I've visited both in my area. I even heard a rumor once of a transsexual who was found in the ladies restroom at Red Lobster once. That may or may not be true though.
I still have to print up a copy of this item (main text only -- not the responses) to give to the person I talked to. Then maybe headquarters will hear about it and counter it. Yeah, it was sticky when I was reluctant to go to RL for my Mom-in-law's birthday -- it'd been a tradition for *years*. It became a non-issue because the stroke she had that day as we were on our way to pick her up for dinner obviated dining out...but I'm glad -- very glad -- that we can celebrate there when she's able to leave the nursing facility.
Ow. I hope she's feeling better.
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