Senator Booted From Restaurant Over ‘Homophobic’ Views

Senator Booted From Restaurant Over ‘Homophobic’ Views: A Knoxville, Tenn., restaurant owner has drawn cheers and jeers for refusing to serve a state senator whose beliefs she viewed as homophobic. Republican state Sen. Stacey Campfield told ABC News he went out to brunch at The Bistro at Bijou restaurant on Sunday with some...

Restaurant boots Tennessee state senator for antigay stance
Restaurant boots Tennessee state senator for antigay stance

Pam Strickland: AIDS facts arrayed against Campfield

By Pam Strickland
Posted February 3, 2012 at 4 a.m.

In 2009, the most recent year for which the Tennessee Department of Health has statistics, 945 Tennesseans were diagnosed with HIV. Of those, 687 were males and 258 were females. Fourteen were men and women 65 or older. Six were females age 13 or younger.

Two hundred of those, or 21 percent, got the virus through unprotected heterosexual contact.

In all, from 2004 through 2009, the state Health Department reports that 23,020 Tennesseans were diagnosed with HIV. Of those, 1,311 were female and 5,994 were male. The virus was contacted via unprotected heterosexual sex for 1,222 of them.

During that time period, 7,305 Tennesseans with HIV died.

No one reported that they got the deadly virus from having sex with a monkey, which seems to be what state Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, believes. Campfield, the state legislator that most everyone loves to hate, went from being a silly embarrassment last week to just plain dangerous when he got on a Sirius radio program and said that HIV could be spread through unprotected heterosexual sex only rarely.

Those of us who have been exasperated with him and his nonsense understood completely when Martha Boggs, owner of The Bistro at the Bijou, asked Campfield to leave rather than serve him brunch Sunday.

Boggs reportedly saw him and his party waiting for a table, came out of the kitchen and followed her gut, which was to tell him something to the effect of, "Get out of here you homophobe. I don't want you in my restaurant."

It must have been cathartic, even if it didn't follow the teachings of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi. And I must say that I am with those who have The Bistro on the top of their list of dining priorities.

The Health Department statistics aren't on Campfield's side. The senator had said: "My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex."

Another thing we know is that he's not an expert on is bullying: "That bullying thing is the biggest lark out there," Campfield said.

He had the nerve to say this after two Tennessee youths committed suicide within the last two months. Jacob Rogers, a senior at Cheatham County Central High School, committed suicide in December after dropping out of school because of bullying. Philip Parker, 14, of Gordonsville High School committed suicide in January because of bullying at school.

Would Campfield dare stand face to face with the parents of either of these young men and repeat his claim that bullying is a lark? I'd like to see him try.

Among the other nonsensical and mean-spirited legislation Campfield has introduced this session is Senate Bill 2583, which would reduce Temporary Assistance to Needy Families payments for parents or caretakers whose children fail to maintain satisfactory progress in school.

Others have been saying that maybe, just maybe, the Republicans finally will run someone against him who will be credible, someone who will bring out more than just the ultra-conservative ditto-heads at election time.

I say that it's time for Gov. Bill Haslam to stop being so passive regarding Campfield. First, the governor needs to call out Campfield. If Haslam can't get Campfield to step down, then it's time for the governor to cash in his good will and secure a sure-fire victor to run against the not-so-good senator.

Because many of us have but one prayer, the line from The Great Litany: "Good Lord, deliver us."

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/feb/03/pam-strickland-aids-facts-arrayed-against/

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WWSD? What Would The Steves, of Steves' Market & Deli, 'Do?

We would NOT discriminate against our misinformed discriminatory conservative political leaders and would/do treat them as we would/do everyone else. It's all about the Pineapple and Doing unto others !

When our *‘narrow and fallacious’ Republican Congressman, Baptist Deacon Mike Conaway, walked into our Deli with his wife, we treated them with Hospitality.

*GOP Rep. Conaway Predicts Segregation Of Gay And Straight Troops After DADT Repeal

Pineapples vs. Chicken-Fried Steak
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