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White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was kicked out of a restaurant on Friday night because she works for President Donald Trump. A co-owner of the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia, asked Ms Sanders and her family to leave as a protest against the Trump administration.
She told the Washington Post that she decided to ask the Trump spokeswoman to leave the 26-seat, "farm-to-table" restaurant after talking to her staff. "Tell me what you want me to do. I can ask her to leave," she said she told them. "They said yes."
The incident comes days after Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was booed at a Mexican restaurant in Washington DC. Critics of the Red Hen's decision said that it was discriminatory. However, others compared the restaurant's decision to a recent Supreme Court ruling in favour of a baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, in a case seen by many conservatives as a test for religious freedom.
WaPo - the owner of the Red Hen explains
[...] She [Ms Wilkinson (the proprietor)] knew Lexington, population 7,000, had voted overwhelmingly against Trump in a county that voted overwhelmingly for him. She knew the community was deeply divided over such issues as Confederate flags. She knew, she said, that her restaurant and its half-dozen servers and cooks had managed to stay in business for 10 years by keeping politics off the menu.
[...] It was important to Wilkinson, she said, that Sanders had already been served — that her staff had not simply refused her on sight. And it was important to her that Sanders was a public official, not just a customer with whom she disagreed, many of whom were included in her regular clientele.
"They offered to pay," Wilkinson said. "I said, 'No. It's on the house.' "
See also: A(ustralian)BC news
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @07:38PM (9 children)
The general rule has always been that it's fine to discriminate against racists, but not races.
Anything that a person inherently is, tends to fall under a protected status, like being a certain gender, a certain race, or, indeed, being gay. On the other hand, being an asshole is something that somebody could just choose not to be. So if you serve the public, you have an obligation to serve blacks, gays, jews, etc. But that shouldn't mean you have to serve an asshole, especially a liar like Sanders.
(Score: 3, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @09:05PM (2 children)
But we don't really know if being gay is a choice or if it runs deeper. And we've heard stories about biological factors linked to certain people being Democrats or Republicans. So maybe the fact that Sarah Sanders supports Trump is just as much a part of her as gay people being attracted to their own gender.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 26 2018, @10:05AM
Sure it's a choice; A choice between being out, an impotent husband to a miserable wife, celibate, or dead.
Honestly, pacifists died for less.
(Score: 1) by Newander on Tuesday June 26 2018, @03:53PM
She wasn't thrown out for being a Republican, or supporting Trump. She was thrown out for working as a member of the Trump administration to spread his lies.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by choose another one on Monday June 25 2018, @09:32PM (4 children)
Interesting that you missed out "religion" as a protected status. Particularly since it is something that sometimes leads directly to being an asshole, and is something that somebody could just choose not to be.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 26 2018, @12:41AM (3 children)
Lots of religions are an opt in, excommunication or bodybag out exercise, if you are following the strict fundamentalist teachings. And while we're a lot better than the past, losing access to your community in the wrong part of the country can be akin to death, as you now have no jobs, the local cops, and the community in general against you.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday June 26 2018, @06:19AM (2 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 26 2018, @10:31AM (1 child)
During most of the bronze-age freedom of religion was a given. The problem was that you were also required to worship the king as a deity. Most sane religions just thrown in a cutesy prayer/BBQ once a year. Only a few of the Judeo-christians had issues with it.
The Quakers had similar issues with sworn testimonies up until a century or two ago. Similarly anarcho-christians and Hasidic Jews won't serve dual lords so they generally refuse to acknowledge national authorities in most forms let alone serve in armed forces or take positions in governments. And there's the whole drafting of pacifists thing that had the Army sending soldiers to combat without a rifle up until the last century...
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday June 26 2018, @08:04PM
Here's a fine upstanding Conscientious Objector. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Doss [wikipedia.org] "The feature film Hacksaw Ridge, based on his life, was produced by Terry Benedict and directed by Mel Gibson."
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday June 26 2018, @12:06PM
Does a cake baker serve the public? Do they in fact not serve private individuals providing cakes in exchange for currency? I'm not saying I'm in favor of choosing not to serve someone because they are gay, but I think there should be a distinction between someone who serves the public (hold office) and people who provide services for money.