Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders chose to meet up with a couple of friends for lunch at a restaurant called The Croissanterie, which caters to the LGBTQ community. After the group had finished eating and paid their bill, they started loitering at the table. Staff at The Crossanterie, which has a 90-minute table policy, asked one of the state police security detail members to ask Huckabee Sanders to leave.
Huckabee Sanders and friends continued to loiter and had to be asked a second time. As they were leaving, a customer flipped a bird at her and loudly told them to leave.
Afterwards, Huckabee Sanders issued a mewling statement, complaining that the restaurant did not meet the standard of warm hospitality that she expects.
The restaurant responded with their own statement, which read in part:
However, as the presence of her security detail became more widely noticed, by both employees and guests, questions were raised about them remaining in the restaurant. As business owners and members of this community, we recognized that any course of action carried consequences. Allowing her to stay risked being perceived as a lack of support for the community that makes up the majority of our team, as well as their families and friends. Conversely, asking her to leave could be viewed as denying service based on differing beliefs.
My question for Huckabee Sanders is how her homophobic and bigoted policies are considered “warm hospitality?”