The owner of an auto-body shop in Grandville, Michigan, said Tuesday that any customers who carried a gun on the premises would get a discount, but anyone who was openly gay would be denied service.
Brian Klawiter, the owner of Dieseltec, wrote on the company Facebook page, “I would not hesitate to refuse service to an openly gay person or persons. 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.”
“Guns ARE allowed at DIESELTEC," he added, "so much so in fact that we will offer a discount if you bring in your gun.”
Two days later, the owner and an employee said people retaliated with violent threats. LGBT advocates are telling gay-rights supporters to keep things civil.
“It becomes a total circus,” Fred Sainz, the chief spokesperson for national LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, told BuzzFeed News. “Respect is a two way street and folks on both sides of the equation should keep that in mind before potentially engaging in offensive or illegal behavior."
“I would not hesitate to refuse service to an openly gay person or persons," wrote Brian Klawiter, the owner of Dieseltec.
The dispute is just the latest spectacle in a series of national blowups in the last year between LGBT rights and people who want to refuse LGBT customers on moral or religious grounds — a fight that has consumed state capitols and court rooms. From bakeries that refuse to make wedding cakes for gay couples to a recent case of a pizzeria that would refuse service to LGBT couples in Indiana, the disputes have devolved into ugly fights and threats that, in the case of the pizzeria, culminated a crowd-funding campaign that raised $842,442 for the business owners.
In this latest eruption, “The phones haven’t stopped ringing,” an employee of the shop told BuzzFeed News on Thursday.
That employee declined to provide his name, but he said callers are “saying that gays have guns too, we’re coming for you, and we will kill the family.” He estimated there have been hundreds of calls.
Those threats prompted Klawiter to post again Thursday.
"We want to be clear that we do not think people should be making threats or trying to engage this individual in-person," said LGBT-rights groups Equality Michigan.
“Listen up folks,” Klawiter wrote, “If you have an opposing view to mine that IS OK, what is NOT OK is threats to kill me, my family, and friends; threats to burn down my shop and my home. I will stand firm on my views and will not back down, however, because of the ridiculous backlash I am requesting any supporters of ours that would be willing to stand with us to help secure my home and business.”
Klawiter added that his comments about assembling someone’s car with all bolts and no nuts “was a reference to physiology, bolt penis and nut vagina. I DID NOT threaten to purposely put a vehicle together wrong to harm someone.”
Yvonne Siferd, the director of victim services for the LGBT advocacy group Equality Michigan, said in a statement that the auto shop’s comments go “beyond the denial of service to LGBTQ people and our allies, and includes a threat to our lives. That is contrary to our common values as Americans."
“We think LGBTQ people and our allies should — for their own safety if nothing else — stay as far away from this business as possible," Siferd said. "However, we want to be clear that we do not think people should be making threats or trying to engage this individual in-person."
In Michigan, a state law bans discrimination “based upon religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status” — but contains no protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Equality Michigan has pressed to have LGBT people protected under that law.
"Our rights as conservative Americans are being squashed more and more everyday," Klawiter said in his post. "I am a Christian. My company will be run in a way that reflects that."
He added, "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.'"
Progress Michigan said Thursday afternoon that intolerance is unwelcome in Michigan — and then called for a "boycott of Dieseltec."
"We need to show both lawmakers and business owners that intolerance will not be welcome in our state," said a statement from the group's executive director, Lonnie Scott. "Instead, we would encourage everyone who supports the LGBT community to show their solidarity by doing business at another establishment."
But Scott also discouraged threats, saying, "In the same way that this business owner shouldn't be threatening the LGBT community with refusal of service, we discourage people from threatening the business owner for his beliefs."
The Facebook comments posted by Klawiter, who did not respond to calls from BuzzFeed News, are below:
