Restaurateur Accepts Lesbian Couple's Money, Then Calls Them 'Unnatural'

A lesbian couple in New Bern, North Carolina said the owner of a restaurant where the family had dinner last month handed the two women a letter condemning their homosexuality… But only after the couple paid for their meal. 

Ariel and Shawnee McPhail told local news station WCTI that after they finished their seafood dinner at The Stingray Cafe, they paid the bill, and then the owner, Ed McGovern, handed them a poorly spelled letter condemning their same-sex marriage as "unnatural."

"God said in the last days that man and women, would be lover of self, more then the lover of God," wrote McGovern, who confirmed to local news station WCTI that he gave the letter to the McPhails, and has given similar letters to other same-sex couples. 

"That man and women would have unnatural effection for one another," continued McGovern. "So please look at your life see how it hurt every one around you, and ask the Lord to open your eye. Before it to late. The love of Christ." 

Lest the couple think McGovern was speaking purely out of abstract bigotry, the restauranteur added a postscript. "P.S. my daughter also was gay. It destroy her life and my grandson."

McGovern told WCTI that he wrote the letter "out of love," and gave it to the couple — after he accepted their dirty gay money, of course — because he objected to seeing the married couple kiss outside his restaurant.

But Shawnee McPhail denies that the kiss even took place. 

"First of all, we didn't kiss," McPhail told WCTI. "We don't kiss in public. We were holding hands. Secondly, if I did kiss my wife in public, what married couple would you go to and say, 'how dare you. You cannot hold hands and you cannot kiss in public therefore you deserve my judgment."

Negative reviews are already stacking up on the Stingray Cafe's Yelp page, and the couple says they're asking those who support them to avoid the restaurant. 

And as an editorial aside, it makes this radical queer's heart heavy to know that these lovely women don't feel safe sharing a simple kiss in public in thier hometown. We have a long way to go. 

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