What Would You Do If You Saw a Waitress Refusing To Serve Gay Parents?
May 19, 2011 -- Gay Parents in the News: The television shows "Brothers & Sisters," "Modern Family" and "Glee" each week bring an unconventional family to the couches of America, raising the awareness that times have changed for the conventional household. With one in five gay couples raising children in the U.S., the traditional mother and father setting is no longer the rule. Michael Rosenfeld, a sociologist at Stanford University, published a study last summer and found that "Children of the same-sex couples are as likely to make normal progress through school as the children of most other family structures." Several professional organizations -- the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association -- have issued statements saying that a parent's sexual orientation is irrelevant to their ability to raise a child.
The Gay Parents Scenario: An actress hired by "What Would You Do?" is waiting tables at a local family style diner, Norma's Café in Farmers Branch, Texas. It's a typical busy morning for her until our actors portraying the role of a gay couple -- first females, then males -- dining with their children are seated in her section. As she begins to express her discomfort and probe their parenting skills, other diners begin to take notice. Will these patrons take the side of our waitress or will they defend the unconventional family?
What They Said:
Our actress portraying a waitress:
"I mean it's bad enough you're lesbians but you're also parents and they don't have a father. I think that's kind of bad...I think this is terrible. I think they need a Dad!"
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Reactions from bystanders who witness the waitress's behavior:
"I've never felt so uncomfortable and so beside myself with anger. You are a horrible person and a horrible waitress, and you need to leave."
"You're the hate monster."
"This is not the place for a political debate. This is a place for you to do your job."
"You are not king. You are not God. You have no choice. You have no place to put anybody in their place."
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"It's about the quality of the parents and the love that there is in the home more than it's having a mom and a dad." --patron who defended the gay parents interviewed by John Quinones.
Watch the scenario unfold Friday, 9 p.m. ET on "What Would You Do?"
