Michigan auto repair shop owner rants on Facebook: No service for gays ‘in the name of freedom’
In a Facebook rant claiming the rights of “conservative Americans are being squashed more and more everyday,” a Michigan auto repair shop owner declared he will not provide services to openly gay individuals “in the name of freedom.”
In an interview with WOOD-TV, Dieseltec owner Brian Klawiter said he is a Christian and that he doesn’t ask his customers if they are gay, but “If you want to come in here with your boyfriend and you want to openly display that, that’s just not going to be tolerated here. We don’t believe that here.”
In the rant, posted on Tuesday, Klawiter lamented the discrimination white heterosexual Christians face everyday in the U.S. and said he is no longer going to take it.
“Apparently if you are white (or close to it), you have a job, go to church, and own a gun… That translates into racists, privileged, bigot, conspiracy theorist,” he wrote. “Too many of us say nothing. Well, freedom of speech isn’t just for Liberals, THEY are the ones that need to learn to ‘co-exist’, THEY are the ones who need to WORK to be ‘equal’.”
Klawiter also said his views are also not up for debate, writing, “Homosexuality is wrong, period. If you want to argue this fact with me then I will put your vehicle together with all bolts and no nuts and you can see how that works.”
The garage owner continued, ” I am not racists[sic], you are for assuming I am, however, I am really quick to judge… if it acts like a duck, and quacks like a duck… It IS a free country and I support your right to your opinion, that being said, if you don’t like what I have to say I reserve that same right to tell you to go cry to your momma (cause your daddy would probably smack ya’, better yet, yes, go tell your dad.).”
Klawiter also noted that his garage is welcoming to gun-owners, “so much so in fact that we will offer a discount if you bring in your gun.”
Asked by WOOD-TV, how he would feel if he were gay and read the Facebook post, Klawiter said, “I think it would be made pretty clear to me that I’m not welcome there, which I would almost consider that enlightening. I would know exactly where not to go.”
Klawiter’s rant comes on the heels of the similar controversy in Indiana, where the owners of Memories Pizza claimed they wouldn’t cater a gay wedding. After briefly shutting down, the pizzeria owners reopened the shop, after receiving a windfall of over $800,000 raised by supporters online.
Grandville, Michigan, where Deiseltec is located, does not currently have any ordinances that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
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