The clerk and the taxi driver

Two stories involving service providers (a clerk and a taxi driver) have recently highlighted the complexity and politicization of how best to deal with homophobia.  In the first, a clerk at Brookstone's was fired for allegedly harassing a lesbian co-worker about her sexual orientation.  The religious right has had a field day with this incident, claiming that this, ultimately, is the goal of "gay activists": to purge the country from Christian beliefs.  (The statement, which I paraphrased, is breathtakingly ignorant of Christian LGBT people or others, like myself, who belong to churches that hold the respect of different faiths paramount.)  Headlines in right wing newspapers and blogs such as "Man Fired After Saying Homosexuality Wrong" and "Accused of 'Harassment' Even Though Lesbian Approached Him" have depicted the clerk as an innocent victim, perhaps even the target of harassment himself.

In fact, the clerk was not fired because of his beliefs.  He was fired for what he said at work, and what he said at work doesn't seem born of religious faith but of bigotry.  How else can you characterize his stating that he "hates people like her" and calling her "deviant"?  I'm not even sure that one needs to rely on sexual harassment policy to find this wrong, although calling someone "deviant" for being gay certainly fits the bill.  My question: doesn't a manager have the right to make sure the workplace is a welcoming one for all?   And I would absolutely feel the same way if the clerk were ridiculed for his religion.  As Alvin McEwen (who did some great reporting on this story) writes, "What if the employee was heterosexual, unmarried, and bragging about her children's success in school.  If (the clerk) had approached her and said something like 'you are denying your child a chance to have a father. You and your children are deviants,' there wouldn't be any discussion of whether or not he deserves termination."

I won't judge whether or not a firing was absolutely warranted since I have no understanding of the clerk's employment history.  I don't know if the dismissal followed warnings or conversations with management. I don't know how I would have handled the situation.  I tend to believe that education should be the first step, discipline the second.  But I absolutely believe that it was within the rights of Brookstone Company to fire him. 

NEXT: The case involving the taxi driver in New York City.