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N A T I O N A L G A Y & L E S B I A N T A S K FOR C E
AM-H
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ivy Young or Robert Bray, NGLTF, (202)332-6483
Lynn Cothren, Queer Nation/Atlanta, (404)636-3913
WHEN BIGOTRY IS THE BLUE PLATE SPECIAL:
SCORES OF ACTIVISTS DESCEND ON THE SOUTH TO PROTEST
RESTAURANT'S ANTI-GAY POLICY;
OTHER ACTIONS AGAINST CRACKER BARREL PLANNED
Washington, D.C., August 22, 1991...Lesbian and gay activists and
supporters from around the South descended on Tennessee recently
for a spirited rally and restaurant sit-in to protest the Cracker
Barrel Company's anti-gay employment policy.
Some 150 activists from Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas,
Georgia, Missouri, the District of Columbia and other areas
gathered on August 11 in Nashville, Tenn., for a regional protest
against the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain.
Earlier this year, the company instituted a policy whereby
employees "whose sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal
heterosexual values" would be fired. At least 12 employees have
been terminate, and gay men and lesbians applying for jobs have
been denied employment.
At a morning rally in Nashville, representatives from the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), National
Organization for Women, Queer Nation/Atlanta, Metropolitan
Community Church--Nashville, the Tennessee Boycott Coalition,
among other groups, condemned the policy and called for its
rescission. Cheryl Summerville, a former Cracker Barrel employee
fired because she is a lesbian, gave a moving testimony on the
injustice of the policy and how mobilized her to take action.
Following the rally, protesters moved in a car caravan to a
Cracker Barrel restaurant outside Nashville in Lebanon, Tenn.,
site of the company's corporate headquarters. Activists occupied
97 percent of the tables at the restaurant, ordering the minimum
cup of coffee or soda and staying for three hours. Prime Sunday
brunch business was effectively halted by the sit-in.
Meanwhile, members of Queer Nation/Atlanta and other
protesters picketed outside the eatery. Queer Nation/Atlanta
members are banned by a court order from entering Cracker Barrel
- more -
1734 Fourteenth Street, NW + Washington, DC 20009-4309 + 202-332-6483
