A Virginia restaurant denied service to a Christian conservative group, saying the staff felt "unsafe."
The Metzger Bar and Butchery canceled The Family Foundation's reservation last Wednesday less than two hours before its scheduled time, the Washington Examiner reported.
The foundation says its reservation for 15-20 for an event for members and guests was canceled after staffers looked up the organization online and wait staff refused to offer service.
"It was a group of donors to a political organization that seeks to deprive women and LGBTQ+ persons of their basic human rights in Virginia," the restaurant noted, without mentioning The Family Foundation by name.
The owners reportedly canceled the reservation.
"We have always refused service to anyone for making our staff uncomfortable or unsafe and this was the driving force behind our decision," the restaurant wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. "Many of our staff are women and/or members of the LGBTQ+ community. All of our staff are people with rights who deserve dignity and a safe work environment."
Family Foundation of Virginia President Victoria Cobb denounced the hypocrisy of an LGBTQ group's lack of understanding or tolerance of people of different views.
"Are they planning to ask all customers what they believe and where they send their donations before allowing them to enter?" Cobb told the Examiner. "Americans expect that we can hold differing views and even champion different causes while still dining at the same establishment."
The foundation could have a cause for a lawsuit against the restaurant. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits businesses from discriminating based on race, religion, sexuality, and more.
The foundation is first focused on bringing light to the issue of "ensuring that Christians and conservatives are aware that they can be the targets of such bigotry and intolerance," Cobb told the Examiner.
"We know our organization will continue to be cut off from services in the current environment," Cobb wrote, detailing the cancel culture experience on the foundation's official website. "We know we will pay more for goods and services because our options will be fewer. We know this could become very difficult for our work.
"This is in part why we purchased our own building, forecasting a day when we would no longer be a welcomed tenant."