DENNIS LYNCH and his partner, Philip Hinkenach, needed a car but dreaded the buying process. Then Mr. Lynch saw an advertisement in a local gay magazine, Frontiers, announcing that Beverly Hills Ford had set up a showroom and lot on Olympic Boulevard with an all-gay sales staff. (NY Times, registration required)
How ... different. How intriguing.
How very very illegal ... or it would be if the federal courts hadn't just ruled that sexual orientation discrimination isn't covered under federal antidiscrimination laws. (I don't know if it's illegal under California state employment laws.)
Seriously, how do you wind up with an all gay staff without asking potential hires if they're gay? And isn't this the sort of question that people have campaigned for years to be made illegal to ask? I don't deny that it might not be easier to shop in a gay-friendly place (but it's cars for heaven's sake!), but is the price for creating a friendlier space acquiring the right/ability to discriminate as we've been discriminated against? Is this supposed to be a good thing? (Dear god, I sound like Carrie from "Sex in the City." Again.)
Copyright © 2001, Iain Jackson, after-words.org
[Archives: 2001 and after]
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12/19/2001: vive la france
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12/18/2001: you're NOT in the army now
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12/18/2001: shame on winn dixie, indeed
12/18/2001: saudi princess
12/17/2001: new resolve
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12/17/2001: polluters ho!