Gays Discriminated Against Under WA Bill Will Just Have to “Grow Their Own Food”

If Washington’s proposed pro-discrimination bill passes — stranger things have happened — then LGBT folks had better prepare themselves for a futuristic, Mad Max-esque hellscape where they’ll have to fend for themselves and it’s every gay for his or her self. Or at least, that’s what the office of one of the bill’s sponsors seems to think.

Senator Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla*) is a co-sponsor of SB 5927, a bill that would allow businesses to deny service to LGBT customers or anyone who conflicts with their religious or philosophical beliefs. Ticked-off constituent Jay Castro called the offices of the bills sponsors to get some answers, but what he got from Hewitt’s office was a heaping helping of sass.

The Stranger reports:

During the phone calls, he says he asked staffers some variation of the question “What are rural gays supposed to do if the only gas station or grocery store for miles won’t sell them gas and food?” Castro says the staffer at Hewitt’s office surprised him with the answer “Well, gay people can just grow their own food.” When Castro then asked the male staffer his name, he refused to identify himself, reportedly responding, “I don’t have to tell you that,” then, “Don’t call here again,” and hanging up the phone.

The bill is in response to lawsuits against Richland florist Barronelle Stutzman who refused to provide flowers for the wedding of a gay couple that had frequented her shop for nearly a decade.

Castro said that even if the bill is unlikely to pass and is “just a publicity stunt,” he wanted to let its sponsors know that “it’s my livelihood and my life that’s on the line.”

Publicity stunt: obvi. Unlikely to pass…well, four words: National Defense Authorization Act.

*Sidebar: We’d expect a lot more from a place as fabulously-named as Walla Walla.