Senator Booted From Restaurant Over ‘Homophobic’ Views
EmailA 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 friends after doing a radio show, but the owner of the restaurant quickly approached him, refusing service.
“We were just standing there waiting for a table, and this woman came up to me saying ‘I’m not serving you, I’m not serving you, you hate gay people,’” Campfield said. “‘I said ma’am I’m not a homophobe,’ and I offered to send her links from the CDC website to back up what I said about homosexuality being a dangerous lifestyle, and being a risky behavior.”
Martha Boggs, the owner of the Bistro at Bijou, located on Gay Street, said that she saw Campfield walk in and thought immediately that he was not welcome in her restaurant because of his comments on homosexuality.
“It was one of those spur of the moment things. I didn’t think about what I was doing, but all I did was look at his smug face, and told myself I do not want to serve him. His comments have gone from stupid to dangerous and I think someone needs to stand up to him,” Boggs said.
At the heart of the spat between Boggs and Campfield were the senator’s recent comments that heterosexual sex was safer than homosexual sex and and recently proposed legislation that K-8 schools should only teach about heterosexual sex to students. Boggs said his comments were inappropriate, while Campfield, who is straight, said today that his opinion is backed up by research from the Center for Disease Control.
“I was talking last week on a radio show and I said the homosexual lifestyle is a dangerous lifestyle. There are heterosexuals in Africa that do have it (AIDS), but the odds of a person getting AIDS in America is much less unless you’re having sex with a high risk group,” Campfield said.
Campfield referred to CDC statistics, which according to data from 2008, show that 54 percent of HIV cases diagnosed that year were from same sex contact among males, while 32 percent was contracted from heterosexual sexual contact. Neither the CDC nor Campfield addressed female homosexual behavior.
On the radio show, however, Campfield said that it was “virtually impossible” to contract HIV/AIDS through heterosexual sex.
“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex…very rarely [transmitted],” he said.
Boggs said she was happy to stand up to him.
“The most dangerous statements he made was that it’s virtually impossible for people to get AIDS through heterosexual sex, and I told him to leave because I was defending the rights of the community and pointing out to an elected official how inappropriate his opinion was. I think Mr. Campfield is a bully so I just stood up to a bully.”
Campfield said he didn’t take the incident too seriously and wouldn’t file any discrimination copmlaint, but thought it illustrated a problem with the other political party.
“I sort of laugh about that kind of stuff, and view it as another example of the left saying they’re open to people with divergent points of view until someone has a different point of view,” he said.
Following the confrontation, Boggs took Facebook, writing, “I hope Stacy (sic) Campfield now knows what it feels like to be discriminated against.”
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This restaurant owner is the intolrant biggot. They will never get one penny from me.
Posted by: Louannde | January 30, 2012, 5:48 pm 5:48 pm
Good for her! More people need to speak up and get these ignorant politicians out of office. The guy is a known homophobe who is just hiding behind a skewed CDC study.
Posted by: Fred | January 30, 2012, 5:51 pm 5:51 pm
Um, isn’t that discrimination when you refused to serve him because if his views? If he was gay, muslim, Jewish, Black, straight, WHATEVER, that’s discrimination on your part, yor the refusal of service-I’d sue you for that ( which is my right).
Posted by: Dave | January 30, 2012, 5:52 pm 5:52 pm
When Ron Paul says that he opposes parts of the Civil Rights Act, this is the kind of freedom he is defending; the right of a business owner to associate or disassociate with anyone they choose. The Senator has every right to express his opinions, and the owner has every right to refuse service. Businesses are not private property.
Posted by: 032125 | January 30, 2012, 5:53 pm 5:53 pm
a GUY named STACEY is a homophobe…lol
Posted by: qwdwqedwq | January 30, 2012, 6:10 pm 6:10 pm
Obviously, the senator is ill informed, Heterosexuals can get AIDS via intercourse. How did he decide they could not? I imagine there are plenty of people that are HIV+ and/or have full blpwn AIDS that are not gay males.
Posted by: Marsha | January 30, 2012, 6:43 pm 6:43 pm
Hahaha, using discrimination to fight discrimination. Constructive…
Posted by: Matt | January 30, 2012, 7:16 pm 7:16 pm
He is one of many nasty homophobic republican senators in the USA, who attack gay people to gain votes from fellow homophones all in the name of religion.
Posted by: Jasonb84 | January 30, 2012, 7:31 pm 7:31 pm
Good for the restaurant, and good for Ron Paul! Give people the freedom to refuse service to anyone they choose, whether it’s because they are homophobic, anti-Indian, an environmentalist, or even because they are a Baptist. This isn’t the only restaurant in town. Perhaps the Senator was embarrassed – he’ll get over it!
Ron Paul’s message is liberty for Senators to say what they like, and for ordinary restaurant owners to object in a way they see fit. America’s constitution WORKS! This is fantastic for all of us!
Posted by: fazsha | January 30, 2012, 8:03 pm 8:03 pm
I guess tolerance is a one way street! What a horrible example of how to act. The owner never learned two wrongs don’t make a right!
Posted by: Mike | January 30, 2012, 8:17 pm 8:17 pm
There is no such thing as homophobia. It is a myth created by the political Left in an attempt to foist the gay agenda onto the rest of our society.
Posted by: rennin1 | January 30, 2012, 8:32 pm 8:32 pm
HIS name is Stacey and HE”S against gays? You can’t make this stuff up.
Posted by: atheist1 | January 30, 2012, 8:37 pm 8:37 pm
I hate it when people express an opinion as fact.
Posted by: Tim C | January 30, 2012, 8:44 pm 8:44 pm
Even at the height of the Cold War, I do not remember communists being denied dining services, or being turned away from restaurants. The restaurant owner should also turn away christians, jews, muslims, and other who generally do not view homsexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. Ont the other hand, perhaps they should boycott her restaurant.
Posted by: Mike | January 30, 2012, 8:54 pm 8:54 pm
Whooo-hooo! I visit Knoxville every year. Martha, I am coming to dine there, and I am leaving a big, fat tip!! Way to go, girl.
Posted by: Mary | January 30, 2012, 9:02 pm 9:02 pm
Yes, it is hard to serve hateful people, but the restaurant is not your private home, and you really can’t start picking and choosing.
Posted by: jock59801 | January 30, 2012, 9:06 pm 9:06 pm
Ignorance isn’t a protected class and she has the right to refuse service to him. This isn’t an example of intolerance. This is an example of free speech at work. If the Senator is going to use his position to spread misinformation and hate, then he has to expect that there will be consequences from time to time. Good for the restaurant.
Posted by: Greg | January 30, 2012, 9:25 pm 9:25 pm
Yes, it is hard to serve hateful people, but the restaurant is not your private home, and you really
can’t start picking and choosing. POSTED BY: JOCK59801 *************Sorry, yes she can. She
has every right to. He is in HER property. I’d kick out that idiot myself, if I were there.
Posted by: michael | January 30, 2012, 9:27 pm 9:27 pm
So she has free speech rights but he doesn’t . Sadly I’m not too surprised at the level of immaturity and ignorance it takes to have that opinion.
Posted by: Drayhoss | January 30, 2012, 9:35 pm 9:35 pm
I don’t think I have seen any worse behavior than from the gay community. They are very bigotted not to mention having the morals of a cockerspaniel.
Posted by: pritiblond | January 30, 2012, 9:37 pm 9:37 pm
While I applaud the restaurant owner’s feelings I don’t know about her refusal to serve him. The opposite could (and do) very easily happen. A gay couple could walk into a restaurant and the owner refuses them service because of their lifestyle. I think, the owner, making her feelings known to the Senator would have made he and his party uncomfortable enough to probably leave on their own accord. Clearly this Senator is EXTREMELY misinformed about the transmission of HIV–in this day and age! Anyway Martha, your heart is in the right place.
Posted by: MyTakeOnThis61 | January 30, 2012, 9:38 pm 9:38 pm
I think the senator meant it is far more likely (and easy) to get aids via gay sex (anal sex) than heterosex. The reason? BEcause tissue in the anus is thinner allowing the virus to more easily invade………………and then you have the problem among the gay community with their moreprominecese risky sex often accompanied by drug abuse. Sorry the truth hurts…..
Posted by: whinesaidsaid | January 30, 2012, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm
Heterosexual sex is MUCH more dangerous. It can cause lead to pregnancy and all of the associated medical issues including miscarriage, the death of a living fully formed human fetus. Heterosexual sex leads to pregnancy which (often) leads to miscarriage which leads to death of the fetus. Very dangerous indeed. He should be condemning heterosexual sex as well.
Posted by: aandw1991 | January 30, 2012, 9:50 pm 9:50 pm
Business owners have to insure their patrons can enjoy a good meal without a possible disruptive customer. By not serving this senator, the business owner avoided a possible disruption to service in the community. Clearly this senator has demonstrated a propensity for controversy which is enough reason to make this decision. That’s not the kind of people we like around while dining in a civil manner.
Posted by: Wayne | January 30, 2012, 10:00 pm 10:00 pm
Kudos for someone in TN for finally standing up to ignorant homophobia!!!!!
Posted by: DCKeene | January 30, 2012, 10:02 pm 10:02 pm
From the British Medical Journal, referring to HIV…..”Gay men are far more susceptible to the spread of the virus through the population, even with the same numbers of unprotected sexual partners…..” And according to a study by UCLA, the United States has approximately four million homosexual adults, representing about 1.7 % of the population. So since 1.7% of the adult population is responsible for 54% of HIV cases, it appears Sen. Campfield’s comments were accurate, and this restaurant owner has problems with those who speak the truth.
Posted by: free_2_choose | January 30, 2012, 10:36 pm 10:36 pm
Sounds as if the whole thing was tacky, but the percentages mentioned got me thinking. I have a diverse group of friends, past and present, and it seems to me that gay men are more likely to be tested for HIV on a more regular basis than heterosexual men or women. They “got the message” a long time ago, and have long since made ‘rapid result testing’ a part of a routine physical. At the same time, I’ve known many straight people who were cheated on, or who went through a “wild” time in their younger years, and they have never been tested for any STDs. That doesn’t mean they don’t have HIV. People who don’t get tested, don’t get counted, so maybe more straight people actually contracted HIV, but more gay people were diagnosed. Who really knows?
Posted by: sillygrandma | January 30, 2012, 10:46 pm 10:46 pm
About time somebody stood up to the demonizing. That’s what this is. Not a difference of opinion. It’s demonizing gays to use them for politics.
Posted by: lexingtonlady | January 30, 2012, 10:57 pm 10:57 pm
I commend her for standing up for gays who are constantly being mistreated and hated by republicans unless they have a son or daughter who is gay themselves. Republicans just don’t have compassion or empathy for others. Being a bigot is so easy for so many in the GOP.
Posted by: Vicki | January 30, 2012, 11:04 pm 11:04 pm
Well I, for one, am very pleased to see so many libs boldly declaring such old fashioned views on free speech and matching deeds to words. This means they wouldn’t object in the least if other business owners, in other places and times, want to refuse service to…say…libs, gays or just about anyone the business owner doesn’t want in their establishment because of what they say or think.
Bravo!
Posted by: MarkS | January 30, 2012, 11:17 pm 11:17 pm
All heterophobes are the haters. She proves the point. Don’t think it is legal either. Serve everybody or nobody. Stop bullying your patrons. A restaurant is not a place for deciding who should eat or not the civil rights of the sixties taught us that. Please don’t hate. As Rodney king said can’t we all just get along. Are pastors still allowed to preach against homosexuality. Let’s barricade all the churches we will soon have peace on earth. NOT!
Posted by: Mikey | January 30, 2012, 11:24 pm 11:24 pm
His comment was just the tip of the ice burg. This man is a mess and almost everyone is fed up with him. He had done and said some weird things. He feels as if he is God and the people are his followers so kudos to Martha. You did what a lot of us wish we had the chance to do. If you were living in Knoxville you would understand more. It has gotten so bad with this man that they have started an online petition against him. Furthermore Senators should not be stating untrue facts to any community he serves. He is supposed to be better than that and hold himself to higher standards. Finally some is trying to clean up the trash in Knoxville. We have a long way to go.
Posted by: Jackie | January 30, 2012, 11:26 pm 11:26 pm
There’s an estimated 375,000 women in the US alone who contracted HIV from heterosexual sex. Many of those women falsely assumed as Sen. Campfield does that they couldn’t contract HIV way. All of them wish they knew better. Shame on the Senator for spreading false information like that. And last l checked there isn’t a right to be ignorant.
Posted by: Joe | January 30, 2012, 11:51 pm 11:51 pm
Mikey, wrong. She is absolutely within her rights to refuse service to the Senator. Period. What she cannot do, by law, is post a refusal to serve an entire class/group of people.
Posted by: puppyfeet217 | January 31, 2012, 12:09 am 12:09 am
What if everyone acted out their rights and started refusing service to gays, blacks, Jews, hereophobes, homophobes, xenophobes, …etc. Nice world we’d live in, huh? This lady is herself intolerant, the very thing she accuses others of. According to Liberal doctrine, everyone is entitled to their opinion as long as it does not disagree with Liberalism. I see no reason why Liberals should be served at restaurants. There should be a national registry of restaurants and their ideological persuasion, so people can choose which ones to patronize. This is the zany path that Liberalism takes us to.
Posted by: Mike | January 31, 2012, 12:21 am 12:21 am
Yeah, the lady is intolerant. Intolerant of hate. Good for her. Everybody is entitled to their opinions. Saying “hey I don’t approve of gay marriage” is one thing. Just constantly demonizing them and attaching horrible things to them is something entirely different. Trying to write bills to get more hate heaped on them is wrong. That’s what this guy has been doing. So good for her.
Posted by: lexingtonlady | January 31, 2012, 1:15 am 1:15 am
Here is the BIg problem for all you right wing haters …He is an elected Senator who is supposed to represent the citizens in his district of Tennessee and guess what dimwits some of them of taxpaying gays and he is a hate monger…I am so proud of this lady. My son is a recent graduate of UT Knoxville and we will be going back and eating at this bistro…as long as Senator dumbass is no where in sight.
Posted by: jennie dunlap | January 31, 2012, 1:30 am 1:30 am
I wonder if waiters could have taken take his order and served him while making a point of keeping their backs turned toward him?
Posted by: whatever | January 31, 2012, 4:37 am 4:37 am
Sometimes there are consequences to bigotry. The senator hopefully learn something from this incident, but he is a republican so I doubt it. The restaurant owner were merely removing a disruptive liar from her establishment.
Posted by: Scott | January 31, 2012, 5:38 am 5:38 am
I applaud what the restaurant owner did. She doesn’t need to make a big scene about it, but I do think that restaurants are NOT public property, and the owner has the right to refuse service to anyone for whatever reason.
Certainly the repercussions of turning someone away based on their political, religious or sexual views are something that owner will need to deal with, but it’s her restaurant. Likewise, she should be able to turn away people who have a history of mistreating her staff or disturbing other customers, or perhaps someone who arrives drunk and she anticipates a problem. If a popular public figure arrived with bodyguards or paparazzi, she might turn them away so as not to interrupt the dining experience of her other customers.
There is a host of reasons to turn away potential customers, and I believe that business owners have the right to do so.
Posted by: Susan | January 31, 2012, 8:05 am 8:05 am
Really? We now have the right to refuse service to someone based on their views? So I take it this means I can refuse to serve a homosexual because their view doesn’t line up with mine? What a bunch of hypicrites… She should be sued, you caan’t refuse service to someone cause their views are against yours… this is ridiculous and the lady was ridiculous and she really by law can not do that, if she can then no homosexual is welcome in my business…
Posted by: Alan | January 31, 2012, 8:08 am 8:08 am
The question of discrimination in this case was answered by the very words of the resturant owner herself….Following the confrontation, Boggs took Facebook, writing, “I hope Stacy (sic) Campfield now knows what it feels like to be discriminated against.” Now let’s reverse the roles….He is now owner of a resturant and refuses her service because he doesn’t ;ike her view on homosexuality…..would those who now support her support his right? I don’t think so cause this tolerence crowd is anything but….
Posted by: Alan | January 31, 2012, 8:43 am 8:43 am
Good for her, Republican state Sen. Stacey Campfield can go somewhere he is welcome. Good :uck with that!
Posted by: Eoin | January 31, 2012, 8:44 am 8:44 am
I thought that what the owner did was great, but on reflection I agree with the previous comment about seating this A-hole and then making his meal one the the worst experiences of his life. I would have instructed the servers to be rude and crude. I would have serve them food met the basic standards for human consumption and nothing more. and I would have charged a table fee that would induce sticker shock.
Posted by: don | January 31, 2012, 1:24 pm 1:24 pm
Based on some of the comments here saying that an owner has a right to refuse service to anyone for any reason are wrong.
If she decides to refuse service to me because she thinks my skin is a little darker than she likes and my hair is kinky, wouldn’t that be enough to prove that you cannot refuse service for any reason the owner decides is ok.
Posted by: Lawrence | January 31, 2012, 2:19 pm 2:19 pm
Based on some of the comments on this topic saying that the owner has to right to refuse service for any reason, I have to respectfully disagree.
If she were to refuse service to me because she felt that my skin color was darker than she liked and my hair being kinky; can we agree that there could be a sucessful lawsuit here?
Posted by: Lawrence | January 31, 2012, 2:27 pm 2:27 pm
You know, I would applaud ABC news for posting this article if they actually followed up by analyzing the veracity of the senator’s statements that started this whole brouhaha. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about all these yahoos in the comments telling us what’s “true”
Posted by: like | January 31, 2012, 3:58 pm 3:58 pm
Shows how nice and tolerant the other side is, they preach to be nice and then do the opposite.
Posted by: Lizzie | January 31, 2012, 4:15 pm 4:15 pm
Why is anyone who disagrees with gays, Obama, illegal immigration immediately labeled homophobic or racist? I don’t KNOW if this Senator is homophobic, but I know that the overuse of the word cheapens it’s effect. If a gay were refused service for his views, liberals and the ACLU would be screaming from the tallest mountain, where’s the outrage at this woman’s biased views? I wouldn’t patronize a restaurant that kicked out a gay for being gay, and the same applies to someplace that doesn’t tolerate anti-gay views. What next… put up a sign that says ‘no NASCAR/NBA/WWF/Beiber fans allowed? If the ACLU has ANY balls, they’ll file a lawsuit against this restaurant. And if the patrons have any balls (gay AND straight), they’ll go someplace where everyone is welcome.
Posted by: Bob | January 31, 2012, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm
I’m guessing that this restaurant manager is a LESBO !!!!!!!!! And if not, she is ABSOLUTELY an INTOLERANT BIGGOTED LIBERAL !!!!! Everyone is 100% ENTITLED to their OPINIONS !!! Whether certain other people like those opinions or NOT !!!! This case IS a cut and dry case of DISCRIMINATION. But, I sure DON’T expect the ACLU to take it. The term “homophobia” is an invention by LIBERALS. And, it’s a total LIE !!!!! A phobia is a FEAR, a deep seated, overwhelming fear. Heterosexuals who do NOT acknowledge homosexuality as being NORMAL, are NOT AFRAID of gays !!! They just KNOW that being gay is NOT normal. If I ever find myself in Knoxville, Tenesse, Bistro Bijou is one restaurant I WILL NOT go NEAR !!!!!!
Posted by: Dave | February 1, 2012, 6:15 am 6:15 am
It amazes me how our education system as well as the “entertainment world” (to include so called News outlets) in the U.S. has effectively reduced the capability of people to think. Anytime anyone brings up a scientific study (of which there are many) that have been conducted that demonstrates the harm that this particular lifestyle brings with it, the extreme groups label it “homophobic” or “Hate Speech”. Medical docs have cited in research for years that anal intercourse often results in anorectal trauma, hemorrhoids and anal fissures and with repeated trauma, friction and stretching, the anal sphincter loses its tone. And since chronic leakage of fecal material has been known to develop from penile/anal intercourse alone; for those engaging in “fisting” (cramming one’s fist up the you know what) that is a more common problem.
There are a host of parasites, bacterial, viral, and protozoan are all rampant in the homosexual population that somehow never gets much press because it not “politically correct” to air. In 2006, a leading medical Journal in Australia reported high rates of intestinal parasitism were found in MSM [men who have sex with men] throughout the world. In fact, amoebiasis has become endemic in MSM in Japan and causes significant morbidity and mortality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services web site which states, “Men having Sex with Men (MSM) have accounted for an increasing number of estimated syphilis cases in the United States and now account for 65% of syphilis cases in the United States based on information from 44 states and Washington, D.C.. Gonorrhea accounts for 33.6%. Unfortunately for us as a Nation, we score so low in the math and sciences against the other industrialized nations, we will never be able to do the math on this subject.
Posted by: My Thoughts | February 1, 2012, 6:43 am 6:43 am
Maybe none of you ever worked in a restaurant, but they all reserve the right to refuse service. Most have a sign posted to this fact. The only problem I have is the fact she stated she was discriminating against him for his views. She should have just asked him to leave without the commentary. We are all entitled to our opinions, but what we are not entitled to is forcing it on others. If she and the rest of you do not like what he has to say exercise your right to vote. Those of you who do not like what people say on these posts do not need to read them. The radio has a dial, and the TV has a clicker.
Posted by: The Chef | February 1, 2012, 4:50 pm 4:50 pm
Considering their civil rights history, I would think Southerners ought to be slow about refusing service to someone in a restaurant for reasons other than behavioral problems. These are the same white Southerners who refused service to blacks for decades just because they were black, and forced them to use separate bathrooms and water fountains. It’s true we weren’t much nicer to blacks on the Yankee side of the Mason-Dixon line, but at least we didn’t stoop that low.
Posted by: Carl in Alaska | February 2, 2012, 12:05 pm 12:05 pm
There is no such thing as homophobia. It is a myth created by the political Left in an attempt to foist the gay agenda onto the rest of our society.
Posted by: rennin1 | January 30, 2012, 8:32 pm 8:32 pm
Homophobia a myth created by liberals? Tell that to the Log Cabin Republicans! LOLAY!
Posted by: Troll_Stopper | February 2, 2012, 9:54 pm 9:54 pm
Carl in Alaska sez “Considering their civil rights history, I would think Southerners ought to be slow about refusing service to someone in a restaurant for reasons other than behavioral problems. ”
Well I dunno, but using a skewed study as a means to rationalize one’s homophobic bigotry looks like pretty bad behavior to me. Just sayin’.
Posted by: Troll_Stopper | February 2, 2012, 9:56 pm 9:56 pm
Drayhoss sez: “So she has free speech rights but he doesn’t . ”
Wrong, she never implied anything of the sort. That homophobic legislator absolutely has free speech rights. However, he most certainly is NOT free from the consequences of his speech. That’s something you righties kept telling Tim Robbins and the Dixie Chicks during the Iraq War, so forgive us if we decide to throw it right back in your face.
Posted by: Troll_Stopper | February 2, 2012, 10:00 pm 10:00 pm