Washington, D.C. is actually a pretty gay-friendly place—hell, even a few closeted types seem to find a way to make a living there. (Just a few.) But in early October a gay couple was thrown out of a Rite-Aid a few blocks away from the city’s traditional gay neighborhood for allegedly hugging each other in the store. According to them, while they were shopping, one of them hugged the other one from behind, and the store manager ran up and shouted, “Get out! Get out!” A few seconds later, the security guard told them they had to leave, although he said he didn’t know the reason why. The manager, Denny Getachew, won’t comment, and Rite Aid spokesperson told the local gay magazine, “We are looking into this matter, and we will take disciplinary action if need be.”
This week, about 50 people staged a “hug-in” at the store, which we can only imagine melted the eyes of any anti-gay witnesses. This is why you don’t let personal prejudices take control of you when you’re the manager of a store—the response from those you treated unfairly is 50 times worse.
“Animus in the Aisles” [MetroWeekly] (thanks to Brian!)
RELATED
“Hugging it Out” [MetroWeekly]
“Rite Aid Hug-In a Success” [TheNewGay]
Fox News Coverage Of Hug-In [YouTube]
(Image: Fox 5 News, Washington, D.C.)
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@INconsumer: Errrr…I don’t think anyone mentioned anything about kissing. This is about hugging, dude. And last I checked hugging wasn’t illegal. I don’t know how you equate hugging (and for all the manager knew, it could have been two straight men) to PDA you should not be subjected to. Way to sound completely crazy.
Hint: Racist against gays = gaycist.
Is anyone shocked that the article mentioned a “local gay paper”?
What paper is this? I only have one for the city and one for the area… I rarely even get the one for the city…
I do not know exactly what happened, but some behavior is not accepted in public places, whether you are gay or not. I don’t think any form of hugging would fit that category, short of you stripping naked and then hugging anyways…
@Chris Walters:
As you mentioned, the only thing that would bother me in either situation, is if they were blocking my way or not. I don’t know about anyone else, but you can go and be sensual all you want, just don’t be sensual in my way.
@ShadowFalls: On closer inspection, Metro Weekly calls itself a magazine, not a paper. Thanks for catching this—I’ve corrected the post.
@Murph1908: The manager presumably had the right to express himself. He had every right to say “I don’t approve of gays hugging in my store.” What he did not have the right to do was to kick them out when they were legitimate shoppers and not doing anything illegal or that interfered with other shoppers.
What this is all about is not gay’s hugging each other in public, which is just fine, just as a hetero couple can certainly hug each other, kiss, etc. Apparently the store manager is the victim, yes VICTIM of a right wing church. And what the church has done is instill in him via terrorization a fear, about gay people, that leads to all sorts of anxieties whenever he encounters them. This terrorization, which creates fear and anxiety, is one of the great shames of our society. I know quite a few gay people, several of them will hug me, and I will hug them back when we meet occasionally. It has nothing to do with sex, btw. It has to do with telling them and their telling me “I’m ok, your ok”.
For the manager, it should be out the door. For the company, it should be a big ass fine, suspended as long as they put in place training for all employees that gay people are to be treated equally along with everyone else.
“i’m not racist against gays, but that doesn’t mean i want to watch you be gay either. if i kissed my wife in the store, he could do the same thing. not my fault that men/women relations are more excepted than gay ones.”
No, you’re not racist against gays. You’re not grammatical with the English, either.
I don’t care if they are gay or straight, public displays of affection in a Rite-Aid are not appropriate. Then again, I doubt they would have been kicked out of the store if this had been a man and a woman.
It’s a free country last time I checked. If you don’t want to see people hug you can exercise your right to look away. Far away, like out of town. Or out of the country like Mr. Japan.
i think i drew as many comments as the article itself did. lol. sorry i can’t be more supportive of gays. personally there was only ONE way the store owner would have known they were gay, and that is if they were being gay in the store.
and sorry for not being an english major. (i however am a math major). english make no sense to me. its the most outlandish of all languages. but by racist i of course meant, i don’t hate gays for being gay. i’m all for gay rights. i just would prefer i never knew if you were or not. which means i don’t want to see pda when i’m a the frikin rite aid. but i bet i won’t have to worry about that now. unless they are going to still shop there then i say how ironic.
@INconsumer: You really think you can’t tell if someone’s gay unless they’re acting gay? Man, you do not have the gaydar. Let me paint you a picture:
Two men, dressed stereotypically flamboyant and speaking with your stereotypical lisps. One is holding the other from behind. They’re obviously affectionate.
And you’d think they’re straight? Now, I don’t know if these guys were stereotypical – many gay men are not. But I don’t know any straight men who hug each other from behind. And many people homophobic enough to kick someone out of their store for a hug would probably be pretty paranoid and assume the worst, not the best.
“I don’t care if they are gay or straight, public displays of affection in a Rite-Aid are not appropriate.”
Oh, boy. What a bizarro world we live in — we are actually debating whether it is APPROPRIATE for human beings to show AFFECTION. Bad is good, good is bad.
Funny how it’s perfectly acceptable to display violent images everywhere, but people touching each other in some loving way is totally beyond the pale and we must protect our children from seeing it.
This is why the human race is doomed.
@INconsumer: No, but it is the law that you can’t discriminate against gay pda but allow straight pda. Public acceptability is not relevant.
And hugging has never really exceeded community thresholds for pda.
@INconsumer: Would you ban a father from hugging his son? Are they being “gay” in the store?
@INconsumer: “Being gay”? How do you “be gay”? I’m a lesbian, but I’m as feminine as they get. You couldn’t even tell I was a big ol’ lesbo unless I told you. When I’m with my partner, I call hugging “being affectionate”, not “being gay”. Again, I reiterate, these are GROWN MEN. They were not fondling or making out in the middle of a Rite Aid. The manager was an obvious homophobe & did as homophobes do. Equating hugging between men with a grievance so bad it warrants being escorted out of the store makes you just as much of an arsehole as this manager. Besides, INconsumer, I thought you weren’t commenting on this post anymore?
Up with hugs! Down with (Dr. prescribed, FDA approved, Rite-Aid dispensed) drugs!!
@cryrevolution: i don’t know how you would be gay. that was the point of the statement. i was suggesting that there was more to the story than we knew. i’m saying that the store owner apparently saw more than he wanted to because you can’t just look at someone and tell if they are gay. besides, this post is not about me. i like the rest of the world have opinions. sorry if i’m not part of the majority, but then who would you have to argue with. all i was doing that started this whole thing was stating that the store has the right to refuse business to you if you are hugging inappropriatly. not that the manager was a great guy, just that he has rights. then it turned into me getting ganged up on for having a statement. and yes yesterday i left work, and today i’m back. sorry for wanting to see who else bashed me for my opinion, and decided to try to clear up my mis understood posts. get off your high horses people. quit worrying about my comments (especially if you see my view as ignorant) and move on.
btw, i’m part of the generation that coined the phrase “thats gay”. so my tolerance of gays might not be the same as others, but i’m a dedicated christian, i will always see homosexuality as a sin and that there is no place in heaven for them. i suppose i’ll get told that i’m stupid for being a christian next. all i’m saying is i thought this was a discussion for all, not just the people who side with the gays.
@INconsumer: I’ll just let your last comment speak for itself.
@INconsumer: BTW, nobody involved religion into this before you did. This is about two grown men treated unfairly for hugging. Yes, hugging. That is what the article states, after all. If they did more than that, wouldn’t the manager tell them? It was unfair treatment that is ILLEGAL in the District of Columbia. Has nothing to do with religion or christianity or heaven. See it for what it is.
@INconsumer: Wow…just wow.
@INconsumer: I’m sure a dedicated Christian such as yourself will remember that the only person Jesus ever promised a place to in Heaven was a murderer. If there is no place in Heaven for homosexuals, there is no place for intolerant fools. Jesus spent most of his time with whores and outcasts, and encouraged true tolerance and love. I’m sure he hugged his male friends too. You cannot possibly be a true follower of Jesus Christ. Sorry.
*place in Heaven to*
@INconsumer:
i don’t hate gays for being gay. i’m all for gay rights. i just would prefer i never knew if you were or not.
So you’re all for gay rights? Kinda hard to tell that from the rest of your comments.
@cryrevolution:
i suppose i’ll get told that i’m stupid for being a christian
That’s not the reason you’ll get told you’re stupid.
@INconsumer:
there is no place in heaven for [gays]
Your version of heaven doesn’t sound very interesting. But that’s your problem, not mine. My problem is self-righteous followers of any faith that don’t get the idea that their right to practice their faith does not extend to denying rights to others with different faiths.
@INconsumer:
because you can’t just look at someone and tell if they are gay
It’s true, sometimes you can’t tell if someone is gay just by looking.
But people often make assumptions based on appearances, actions (“behavior”), and other aspects of the person in question. This isn’t a usually a problem until the assumer acts in a manner that is discriminatory.
For example:
Seeing two men hug in Rite-Aid:
Possible assumptions:
1. probably gay
2. long-lost friends
3. brothers
Possible reactions:
1. kicking them out for “acting gay”
2. ignoring them because they’re not doing anything inappropriate
WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE ACTUALLY GAY, reaction 1 is wrong. Straight brothers? Still wrong to kick them out just because you’re prejudiced. And in some cases, it’s not just wrong, it’s also illegal or against company policy.
@INconsumer:
sorry for wanting to see who else bashed me for my opinion, and decided to try to clear up my mis understood posts. get off your high horses people. quit worrying about my comments (especially if you see my view as ignorant) and move on.
The trouble is, you’re saying I shouldn’t exist. That DOES worry me, and it worries me greatly. Too many of my gay and lesbian (and bi and trans) brothers and sisters have been injured or killed by people who think we shouldn’t exist. Saying you don’t mind gay people as long as they don’t “act gay” in public? That’s saying we shouldn’t exist.
You make all these outrageous statements and then have the nerve to claim you’re being bashed for your comments? You’ve done practically nothing BUT criticize and put down gays in this article. In nearly all your posts, if you weren’t directly critical of gays, you were sarcastic towards another commenter.
My tolerance ends when someone wants me to disappear.
@INconsumer: And how do you feel about eating shellfish? That’s a sin, too. God hates shrimp! [www.godhatesshrimp.com]
(Chuckle) great thread!
The manager of the store needs some “sensitivity training.” There was nothing wrong with this hug.
Homosexual people are part of this world and deserve the same amount of respect as a heterosexual.
American christianity is so broken.
i suppose i’ll get told that i’m stupid for being a christian next.
@INconsumer: Oh please, don’t try to make this about people being against your religion.
1) There are non-Christians that are homophobic
2) There are Christians that are tolerant of gay people
3) Nobody’s called you stupid (other people, including Consumerist editors get called out for bad grammar and spelling and doesn’t count)
4) Nobody’s bashed you at all
I think the other commentors have been very kind considering you’ve told some of them they deserve to go to Hell.
@Rectilinear Propagation: Ack, didn’t finish my thought:
all i’m saying is i thought this was a discussion for all, not just the people who side with the gays.
@INconsumer: The discussion is for everyone. That doesn’t mean that everyone is going to agree with you.
Inconsumer–you are a bigot. Your thoughts are bigoted, your speech is bigoted, and your actions are bigoted. You just have a problem with the label. Suck it up and embrace your inner bias, sweetie. IQ and Jesus have nothing to do your prejudice.
@Antediluvian: If we weren’t both gay, I’d probably hit on you right about now. That is, of course, assuming you’re male (and as such we are pretty guarenteed not to be interested in eachother). If this is not the case, hot damn, you’re pretty awesome.
Thanks, I’m flattered — it’s been a while since a lesbian offered to hit on me.
Although I like to think I’m still pretty awesome, in spite of having the boy parts.
@INconsumer: I know what you mean…I DEFINITELY do not want to know if someone is straight or not. Shivers!
I think my life partner StewpidStew is cheating on me with this Michael Brown guy. He does not know that I am cheating on him with Dr. Jeecheroo.