(I’m a bisexual female wearing a rainbow wristband. I am checking out a customer I have sometimes seen around the store. The customer has been friendly enough to me up until this point.)

Customer: *points at my wristband* “You’re one of those queer f******!”

(Occasionally, I deal with things like this, so I try to keep my cool.)

Me: “I prefer the term ‘bisexual,’ ma’am.”

Customer: “The Lord says you’ll burn in Hell! He condemns those who sleep with the same gender!”

(I sigh and endure this abuse for a bit longer because she has, unfortunately, purchased A LOT of items. Soon, I decide to ask her to stop after a particularly abusive comment.)

Me: “Look, ma’am, you can have the views you want on homosexuality, but please realize that abusing a cashier is not an appropriate response, especially in front of children.”

Customer: *shouting* “I will not do anything you tell me! God hates [slur]s, and therefore, so do I!”

(A girl who can’t be older than fourteen walks up to the woman who is ranting at me.)

Girl: “Hi.”

Customer: *coldly* “Hello.”

(The customer then continues yelling at me.)

Girl: “You’re not being very nice to the cashier. She never did anything to you. All she was doing was checking out your items.”

(I see the girl’s mom looking surprised and slightly pale.)

Customer: “So? God hates people like her.”

Girl: “That’s not true. I’ve seen you at church, ma’am, and I recall the pastors teaching us that God loves everyone. And He makes everyone, right? Doesn’t that mean that He made her?”

(The customer seems about ready to give up, but has something else to say.)

Customer: “It literally says in the Bible that He condemns homosexuality, so why don’t you go back to being a good Christian girl and love the Lord like everyone else?”

Girl: *visibly getting tired of this* “You know, I seem to recall that the Bible said it’s okay to own slaves and that women were the property of men. Please step out of your homophobic bubble and take a look at modern American society.”

(The customer goes magenta in the face and leaves, sputtering, with her groceries.)

Me: *to the girl’s mother* “You have raised an extraordinary daughter.”

Mother: “Don’t I know it!”

(I never saw the homophobic customer again, but I saw the girl and her mother several times at the store while I worked there and gave them a discount on their purchase each time.)