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Mississippi restaurant gives out straight-couples-only offer and is roundly lambasted for it

From left: Darwell's Happiness Cafe; male-female couple
Google Street View; Shutterstock

Left: Darwell's Happiness Cafe

"We don't do the trans or the lesbians or gays," an owner of Darwell's Happiness Cafe said.

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A restaurant on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is getting pushback for advertising a couples’ night limited to “the real kind of couple,” those who “can produce a child.”

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Darwell and Nettie Mechelle Yeager, a married heterosexual couple, operate Darwell’s Happiness Cafe in Long Beach. They posted a video to Facebook Wednesday offering a meal discount to couples who meet those qualifications, reports NOLA.com, a website for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and other area newspapers.

“If you’re a couple — husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, guy and girl. Couple,” Darwell Yeager said in the video.

“We don’t do the trans or the lesbians or gays. I’m sorry. That’s down the street,” Nettie Yeager added.

The video has been taken down, and most of the restaurant’s Facebook posts are marked “This content isn’t available right now.” But the video got much attention when another restaurant, Trax Bar and Grill, shared a screen recording of it in outrage.

“The disgust I feel for statements made in this video is immeasurable; and, if you watch it and find yourself agreeing with this lowlife, then I suggest you not set foot into Trax Bar,” owner Jessica Notter wrote on Facebook.

“A string of enraged responses filled the comment section, almost all of them decrying the opinions of the Yeagers,” NOLA.com reports.

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The Gulf Coast Equality Council posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying in part, “When a business chooses bigotry over belonging, it’s up to all of us to show that hate has no home here. Let’s stand together and support LGBTQ+ owned and allied businesses that celebrate diversity. Let’s use our voices, our presence, and yes — our dollars — to send a clear message: the LGBTQ+ community matters!”

Angela Singletary, president of the Society, an antibullying group, planned to organize a protest at the restaurant Friday but canceled it because of safety concerns. But before the cancellation, she told NOLA.com, “It’s important that we don’t allow this kind of discrimination and these kinds of comments to ... just go. We can’t just let them go. They have to be addressed, and people have to be held accountable.”

Ann Madden, a local photographer, responded to the Yeagers’ video by offering an “All Are Welcome Here” poster to area businesses, as she had done first in 2016, when Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a so-called religious freedom law that allowed businesses to turn away customers who offended their beliefs, including LGBTQ+ people. The Yeagers have said their statements in the video were motivated by their religious faith.

Nettie Yeager posted a statement to her personal Facebook page Thursday, writing, “I’m not perfect and I get my feelings hurt too. Not always right. But I’m human too. I’m truly sorry if you got offended or misunderstood something not meant to hurt anyone.” Darwell Yeager posted a comment saying he was “tired of being bullied by the Left” and reposted his wife’s statement six times.

Other restaurant owners in the area have assured customers they welcome all.

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