【Marathi Archives】

Even in this day and Marathi Archivesage, café owners are can lose customers simply because of their sexuality.

That's what happened to Jay Horne, who's the co-owner of the Paradiso Cafe in Cairns, Australia. Horne heard former "regulars" of his cafe say they would not come back because he and his staff are gay.

Addressing the former customers in a Facebook post, he asked "Do you think you are going to turn gay (if you're not already) if you eat and drink at a gay owned and operated cafe?"

"I’m finding it very difficult to comprehend," Horne told Tropic Now. "The couple had a conversation in which they stated that they wouldn't be coming here any more because we're a gay-owned business. They still walk past every single day but now they refuse to acknowledge us."

The customers apparently had visited the café for eight months before the incident. Horne said he could understand if their customer service was bad or if their food was poor, but struggled to understand why being gay-owned and operated was such a problem.

"You cannot catch being gay. And I do find it offensive that people do have that belief," he told the publication. "I just consider people as people, and that's how others should consider us and consider people's businesses."

Horne said via Messenger that since the incident it's been "business as usual," but he's fortunately had plenty of people offering their goodwill. "We've had many Cairns locals and tourists come in and introduce themselves and offer support," he said.

"We had one gentleman on Saturday who was so thankful that he broke down in tears and another couple sitting in the cafe in the hope the old regulars would walk by so they could confront them."

Horne said in the time he's also heard numerous stories from people about family and friends who've taken their lives because they didn't feel accepted due to their sexuality.

"If I have helped one person or saved one person from taking their own life through sharing my experience I am happy," he said.

Last October, a different café in the same city wrote a Facebook post decrying a customer's refusal to be served by a barista "because of the colour of her skin."

Check the date, ignorant people: It's 2017. Sigh. In Horne's own words, "THEIR LOSS!"

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