The group, the Family Foundation, was to hold a dessert reception for supporters on November 30, the group’s president, Victoria Cobb, wrote in a blog post describing the incident. About an hour and a half before the scheduled start, one of the restaurant owners called to cancel it, she wrote. “As our VP of Operations was explaining that customers were coming to their restaurant soon, she demanded an explanation,” Cobb wrote. “Indeed, an employee searched for our organization and his servers refused to serve us.”
The Family Foundation is based in Richmond and advocates “policies grounded in biblical principles.” He lobbied against gay marriage and abortion rights.
In an interview, Cobb said that since posting about it, she’s heard from people alarmed by the story and other dining establishments making it clear that they would be welcome. “A lot of people are outraged that a restaurant wants to do a litmus test at the door,” she said. “Everyone should be concerned about people being denied services because of their politics.”
In her blog post, Cobb compared the restaurant’s move to establishments that refused to serve black customers in the 1950s and 1960s, and she denounced what she called a “double standard” by liberals who believe that a Colorado baker shouldn’t be allowed to refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
Legal experts say neither of these analogies is appropriate. Although it’s illegal to discriminate against someone because of their race or religion, the restaurant’s refusal was tied to the group’s actions, said Elizabeth Sepper, a professor at the University of Texas. “It’s about the overall positions and policies that the group has taken – it’s not about Christians versus non-Christians,” she said. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, DC, Seattle and the Virgin Islands specifically protect people from being denied service because of their political affiliation or ideology.
Reached by phone, Metzger co-owner Kjell Anderson said the owners had no comment beyond the Instagram post.
The restaurants have made headlines for challenging their customers’ policy. Sarah Sanders, then White House press secretary and now governor-elect of Arkansas, was asked to leave the Red Hen in Lexington, Va., in 2018. Restaurant owner Stephanie Wilkinson wrote that she believed that Sanders was “a person whose actions in service to our country, in our view, violated basic standards of humanity. And a judge in 2018 sided with a New York bar that expelled a patron for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat in support of President Donald Trump.
If the past is any prologue, Metzger’s decision — which was first reported by Virginia Business — is likely to bring him both criticism and support. Wilkinson described the aftermath of the incident with Sanders – which made headlines around the world – as intense. Her phone lines were hacked, she and her staff had private information about them posted online, and many of them received death threats. People turned to Yelp, leaving fake negative reviews, and made reservations they had no intention of keeping. But Wilkinson said people have also shown their support by going for miles and donating to local charities.
On Tuesday, Metzger’s Yelp page was frozen and an “unusual activity alert” was added. “This company has recently received increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news,” the notice reads. “While we take no position one way or the other regarding this incident, we have temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page while we investigate whether the content you see here reflects the experiences consumers rather than recent events.
The restaurant and the foundation took advantage of the interest in the event to raise funds. Metzger posted an image of a bourbon-based cocktail dubbed “Cracks in the Foundation” on Saturday and said he would donate proceeds from its sale to Equality Virginia, a group that advocates for LGBTQ rights. “We are very grateful to our many guests and neighbors for their support over the past few days!” read the Instagram post. “As a thank you, we’re donating all proceeds from this cocktail to @equalityva tonight!”
And in its blog post describing the incident, the Family Foundation also asked for donations. “Would you consider a donation today to support our efforts to ensure that no Virginian ever has to worry about being denied a simple meal because of their religious beliefs?” the read message.
