Landscaping Business Refuses Service to Homosexuals

By Linda Orlando

Michael Lord and Gary Lackey, a gay couple in the Houston area, were requesting bids for a landscaping job at their new house, so they asked Garden Guy to come out and give them a quote. Todd Farber and his wife are conservative Christians, and they have run Garden Guy, a small family-owned landscaping business, since 1991.

In response to the gay couple’s request, Sabrina Farber replied with a polite e-mail saying, "I need to tell you that we cannot meet with you because we choose not to work for homosexuals." Lackey was startled by the reply and immediately forwarded it to 200 friends with the message, "I’m still shocked by the ignorance that exists in today’s society," and asking them to pass the word around and not patronize Garden Guy.

Thanks to the Internet, the e-mail exchange spread like wildfire to thousands of people around the world, and almost immediately became the subject of heated and emotional arguments on the Internet. A forum on the Garden Guy website that was normally devoted to discussions of landscaping issues was flooded with angry comments and vicious attacks from people as far away as Australia. The forum has since been removed from the site.

Some critics attacked the religious beliefs of the Farbers, calling them bigots and even threatening the couple and their five children, saying they ought to be sodomized. Supporters of the couple took their side in the issue, condemning gays as being sinners.

The Garden Guy website has always included Biblical quotes, one of which Lackey must certainly have seen before requesting a quote: "The God-ordained institution of marriage is under attack in courts across the nation, and your help is needed. Go to: www.nogaymarriage.com to take action." Yet Farber’s reply still incensed him and his partner.

"It was just our intent to uphold our rights as small business owners to choose our clientele," said Farber, who was shocked by all the controversy. "All the hate, the threats of sodomizing my children, the threats of me being murdered, came out because of a very businesslike straightforward e-mail I sent. The crowd of tolerance and diversity is not so tolerant."

Austin and Dallas have ordinances prohibiting businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, but Houston has no such ordinance. "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."

The offices of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, based in Harrisburg, PA, also heard of Farber’s e-mail, receiving hundreds of angry calls and e-mails. The 1,200-member association created a nondiscrimination policy and issued a statement criticizing the Farbers, who have been denied further membership. "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.

Despite all the hatred and viciousness directed toward them, Farber and her husband have also gotten hundreds of phone calls and messages offering encouragement. The family has been touched and gratified by the outpouring of support for them sticking to their beliefs. "We just cried. We have been through so much," Farber said. "We became accidental crusaders for Christ."