Anger Over Anti-Gay Landscapers

The local landscaping business Garden Guy has shocked many Houston residents after having refused to offer their services to a gay couple. The company's Christian conservative owners promotes their business with promises of treating its customers with respect and honesty, according to the Associated Press.

Michael Lord and Gary Lackey sent a request for proposal to Garden Guy for a landscaping job at their house, but received an email back from Sabrina Farber, a co-owner of Garden Guy, saying: “I need to tell you that we cannot meet with you because we choose not to work for homosexuals.”

Lackey forwarded the e-mail to friends and family, asking them not to do business with Garden Guy. “I’m still shocked by the ignorance that exists in today’s society,” Lackey said in his e-mail.

Within days, the e-mail had been forwarded to thousands of people around the world. A forum on the Garden Guy Web site, normally reserved for discussions about landscaping and shrubbery, was bombarded with angry comments from as far away as Australia.

Farber, whose company’s Web site has long included Biblical quotes and a link to a Web site that opposes gay marriage, said she was shocked by the reaction. “It was just our intent to uphold our rights as small business owners to choose our clientele,” she said.

“Imagine if it had been a black or Hispanic couple that they wouldn’t provide services to. It’s really bad,” said Jack Valinski, a Houston gay activist. “A lot of gay couples have kids, live in the suburbs and have neighbors that are straight. Yet, we still have instances like this. There is still always that underlying discrimination we all have to deal with.”

Houston has no laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

According to the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, the Farbers are also misrepresenting themselves as current members of the group. The Association received hundreds of outraged calls and e-mails, and issued a statement criticizing the Farbers and created a nondiscrimination policy.

“It has come to our attention that a former member has declined a professional engagement on the grounds of the prospective clients’ sexual orientation. This conduct does not conform to the policy and practice of APLD,” the organization said.