US EditionMississippi Coast restaurant faces swift backlash for anti-LGBTQ+ couples special
- Darwell's Happiness Cafe in Long Beach, run by Darwell and Nettie Mechelle Yeager, sparked outrage after posting a Facebook video on Wednesday advertising a couples' meal special only for couples who can produce a child.
- The video, promoting a Celebration of Couples Day, was criticized as being discriminatory towards LGBTQ+ couples and those unable to have children, leading Trax Bar and Grill to share a screen recording of the clip in protest.
- The controversial video, which has since been deleted but continues to circulate, featured Darwell stating, "We don't do the trans or the lesbians or gays," while Nettie, wearing oversized sunglasses, added, "That's down the street."
- In response to the backlash, which included criticism from the Gulf Coast Equality Council, local business owners like William Rester, and the planned protest led by Angela Singletary of The Society, Nettie issued an apology on Thursday, citing their religious beliefs, while Darwell reposted the apology six times and released his own statement saying he was 'tired of being bullied by the Left'.
- The controversy highlights the tension between Mississippi's Religious Liberty Accommodations Act, passed in 2016 under then-Gov. Phil Bryant, which allows organizations to deny services based on religious views, and the fact that 3.5% of the state's population identifies as LGBTQ+, with 34% of that community raising children.
6 Articles
6 Articles
Mississippi restaurant gets lambasted for straight-couples-only offer
A restaurant on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is getting pushback for advertising a couples’ night limited to “the real kind of couple,” those who “can produce a child.”Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.Darwell and Nettie Mechelle Yeager, a married heterosexual couple, operate Darwell’s Happiness Cafe in Long Beach. They posted a video to Facebook Wednesday offering a meal discount to c…
‘Straight couples only’ special scratched from famous restaurant after backlash
Darwell’s Happiness Cafe has come under fire from the Mississippi LGBTQ+ community after it offered heterosexual couples free food and stated they ‘don’t do the trans or the lesbians or gays’
Mississippi Coast restaurant faces swift backlash for anti-LGBTQ+ couples special
A Mississippi Gulf Coast restaurant faced quick backlash from the surrounding community, business leaders and LGBTQ+ groups after posting a now-viral video offering a meal special for only couples who "can produce a child."
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