Tim Hortons, an international coffee shop and restaurant, is under fire for anti-gay actions once again after a Blenheim, Ontario, Canada Tim Hortons franchise threatened to call the cops on a lesbian couple who were drinking their Tim Hortons coffee outside the restaurant while having their hands around each others’ waists, and kissing once or twice on the cheek. The couple chose to leave rather than create a stir, and noticed a local pastor for a Pentecostal Church named Glad Tidings, with a dozen congregants in the Tim Hortons parking lot praying for the couple’s soul. Reportedly, the pastor is the one who complained to the restaurant manager.
CTV News is reporting “the chain is apologizing to Riley Duckworth, 25, of London, and her partner Patricia Pattenden, 23, for what it calls a misunderstanding, Duckworth says she is not satisfied.”
Duckworth says she and her partner Patricia Pattenden, 23, were outside drinking coffee with a group of family and friends and saw a man watching them from inside the restaurant.
She says soon after, the man went up to the counter, and a few minutes later the assistant manager came out and asked the couple to stop doing what they were doing and leave.
Duckworth says her partner had her hand around her waist, and had kissed her on the cheek once or twice but she denies they were groping each other.
“The manager said that our behaviour was inappropriate and that it was a family friendly establishment and it wasn’t acceptable there,” Duckworth said.
“We would need to leave within five minutes or the cops would be called,” she said they were told.
They were shocked but left to avoid creating a scene, she said. They have been to the same outlet previously and had received stares from customers, but nothing had ever been said, she added.
As the couple left, the pastor at a local church allegedly held a prayer circle with more than a dozen people in the parking lot to “pray for the couple’s souls,” Duckworth said.
To make matters worse, CTV adds, “Duckworth said she was not contacted directly by anyone at Tim Hortons and read the apology for the first time on a website.”
Thursday, October 27, there will be a protest outside the Tim Hortons in Blenheim, Ontario.
In 2009, Tim Hortons chose to support an anti-gay event sponsored by NOM, the National Organization For Marriage.
Change.org, which sponsored a petition that ultimately was effective in convincing Tim Hortns to remove their support, reported at the time,
Michael Airhart at Truth Wins Out and the Providence Daily Dose were the first ones to point out that, indeed, Tim Hortons is not only sponsoring the anti-gay marriage event, but they’ve also allowed their logo to be plastered on the brochure for it. To be clear, this is an event hosted by an organization that has said gays and lesbians are a threat to children, and a group that openly promotes discrimination toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens.
 (Hat tip and thanks to Elaine Clisham)