Westport is proud of its business and restaurant environment.
We’re proud to be a welcoming community.
Now 3 organizations are putting that pride front and center — in the window of any establishment that wants to say: “We’re in!”
Westport Pride — the town’s LGBTQ+ organization — has partnered with the Westport Downtown Association and Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce.
Their new “All Are Welcome Here” campaign encourages businesses, restaurants and offices to show support, solidarity and allyship with the LGBTQ+ community.
Participants can proudly display an “All Are Welcome Here” sticker in a visible location. That signals their commitment to providing a welcoming, safe experience for everyone.
“We believe every person deserves to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness,” says Brian McGunagle, founder of Westport Pride.
“By participating in the ‘All Are Welcome Here’ campaign, businesses and establishments in Westport can actively demonstrate their commitment to these values, and contribute to a more inclusive community.”
Interested businesses can click here, then completing the online form. Participants will receive a link to a short training video to educate employees on LGBTQ+ inclusivity and sensitivity.
Each business will receive an “All Are Welcome Here” sticker to display prominently.
There is a nominal fee of $10 to participate in the program.
All businesses, regardless of size or type, are invited to join the campaign. (Full disclosure: I am a board member of Westport Pride.)
For more information on Westport Pride, click here. Questions? Email westportctpride@gmail.com.
Though this is a wonderful thrust against the recently promulgated atmosphere allowing bigotry and discrimination of all kinds, it will be interesting and enlightening to see which “businesses” sign up, it’s a damned shame that we’ve come to the point where the statement “we behave fairly” has to be proffered rather than assumed.
Dan, Agree. It is sad that we have come to this point. This past weekend we had our 40th Staples class of 1983 reunion, and a lot of our discussion was on how we really did respect each other back then.
The same high school dynamics as always, kids into arts, sports, science etc. exist today.
Today bullying is out of control in our schools throughout the country. Yes, even here in our “bubble” of Westport.
We put signs on our lawns “hate has no home here.”
What do signs like this mean?
Actions always speak much louder than words, and signs. How had is it to treat another human being the way you want to be treated?
Who are the role models for bullying ? Which political party is all about transgender rules ? I really do not understand Dans rules. 06880 is not insulated from national policymakers and racist politicians. I have a lot to say
Legitimate topic for discussion here, Richard. It’s germane to the topic at hand.
I am openly lesbian and very much pro LGBTQIA+ inclusion and respect, but this feels to me like a missed opportunity. I’ve traveled to many US towns that have wonderful, welcoming signs in their windows that explicitly state that ALL are welcome, inclusive of skin color, body size, religion, political affiliation, citizenship, sexual or gender identity, ability or age. I’m so tired of groups becoming siloed in efforts to advance equity. I’d much prefer a sign that acknowledges collective inclusion rather than storefronts demonstrating their acceptance of just one group, whichever group that might be.
I think you have a valid point and we are very open to adding more broad and inclusive language to the campaign. Happy to work together on this. Westportctpride at gmail.com
Westport Pride, here is a better idea. Why don’t you just leave our local businesses alone instead of pressuring them to pay you money and fly your political flag (with the implied threat that you will encourage people to boycott their stores if they don’t express allegiance to your cause)? What you are engaging in here is not inclusion but coercion.
Where do you garner the SLIGHTEST threat of boycott, Mr. Barkin…I do agree that the ten buck charge is a real turn off but “implied threat”?; you simply made that up.
Why would you want to charge for “it” in the first place? “I want you to like me and it’s only going to cost you $10.”
I think ideally yes, that would be the case. I think the argument for this is that this is a group that is being targeted right now and feels unsafe. There are also real things that businesses can do to help this group feel welcome and respected that are not obvious to everyone and requires some education. So while I agree that yes we should be welcoming to everyone as you say above, I do feel (and as the mom of a trans son) that this specific group needs some extra support right now and just having a sticker that indicates that everyone is always welcome can lose the point we are trying to convey and you lose the specific commitment we are asking for with this campaign.
Except it’s a complete lie that the LGBTQ community is being “targeted.” The Supreme Court ruled, correctly, that a provider of “expressive services,” as opposed to a place of public accommodation like a store, cannot be compelled to perform work that violates their conscience. This ruling also protects, for example, a gay web developer or cake designer who may not want to perform work for a religious-themed event. I don’t want to live in a country where artists, designers and other creators are forced by the state to take on work they object to, for whatever reason. Do you? If you want the freedom to be gay or trans, you need to allow other people to be true to their own beliefs and feelings and not make them slaves to yours. Westport Pride is creating a false sense of panic and distorting recent events to bully store owners into flying their flag, paying them money and subjecting their employees to their training programs. And of course this is just the start.
Geez, on what planet do you live that you think that the LGBTQ+ community isn’t targeted?
Clarence Thomas was clear that he thought that SCOTUS should re-litigate gay marriage.
To call someone who bakes a cake a “creator” opens up the definition of “creator” so broadly that it can pretty much exclude any otherwise accepted fair accommodation. As the great philosopher Penn Gillette said, nobody is asking them to BE gay, they are being asked to provide the same services to gay people that they would provide anyone else.
This is really easy – you are born with a national origin or a race. You are born with a sex, a gender, and a sexual orientation. You are born with physical abilities and disabilities. Discrimination against you based on your innate characteristics is simply wrong.
Bigotry in the name of religion? That’s not an innate characteristic, that’s a choice. There is no more of a bullshit concept in Constitutional interpretation than that of “sincerely held religious beliefs,” as they seem to be grasped at arbitrarily when someone objects to treating others equally.
Forty or fifty years ago, the separation of church and state meant that we all lived under the same law of the land regardless of our own personal religious beliefs. In more recent decades, conservative activist judges have perverted separation into meaning, if you *say* you are a conservative Christian you are free to exempt yourself from the law of the land.
In a free country, you should not be able to compel another human being to do custom work for you for any reason. A devout Christian or Muslim should not be compelled to plan a gay wedding. A left leaning gay man should not be compelled to plan a Proud Boys reunion. You can’t force people to do creative work they disagree with. (There is a distinction, however, with walking into a store and buying a cup of coffee, as the courts have noted.) Being gay or trans isn’t a superpower that entitles you to enslave your fellow citizens. And when someone doesn’t want to be enslaved by you, you are not being “targeted.” In any event this whole notion that the gay community is now “unsafe” because of this ruling is preposterous. It’s a nuanced decision and we can debate the edge cases, but Westport Pride is exploiting the heck out of it to impose their extreme views on our town (and yes, subjecting children to sexually charged drag performances is extreme). The ones who are truly unsafe are the young kids who are brought to those events. They have no choice in the matter and are totally defenseless.
“You are born with a sex, a gender, and a sexual orientation.” I’m sorry, 2019 is calling, they want their heteronormativity back! Don’t you know sex, gender and orientation are social constructs that are 100 percent fluid!? Sounds like someone desperately needs a Westport Pride sensitivity training module. For goodness sake Chris, microaggression much?
Well said Mara. Not sure why we need to highlight what just should be respect and decency for all ethnicities, sexual and gender identities, religious and political freedoms. Seems like charging money for a sticker promoting a specific identity negates the inclusive intent of the statement trying to be made and excludes so many other equally important groups.
I’ve lived and worked here my entire life. I’ve never known any Westport business/restaurant to not welcome anyone. And that includes the Hells Angels. So why this now?
Our entire local retail economy is built around gourmet restaurants, high end home decor and cutting edge fashion. If we are trying to marginalize the gay community, we are doing a really bad job!
What makes you think anyone is marginalizing the gay community just because someone doesn’t want to put a welcoming sign? Those who truly welcome everyone have no need to point that out. It’s a given. On the other hand, those that put the sign are saying that they full-on embrace the LGBQ…. agenda which generally is hostile to Conservatives who now may choose not to support such a business.
Mr E – Bingo!
Hells Angels? From 3rd st. in the city?
Trying a little too hard. Becoming a “turn-off.” Featuring the drag shows was where it got to be a little much. Drag shows are not normal behavior (even for Westporters).
I was saddened to read in a Westport Journal article that Mr. McGunagle is “on guard” when he goes out with his family in Westport: https://westportjournal.com/government/a-dangerous-step-on-a-path-toward-racism/
“‘I’m shocked, but not surprised,’ Brian McGunagle, the founder of Westport Pride, said of the court’s ruling. McGunagle, the father of two children ages 4 years and 4 months old, said he feels lucky to live in Westport where he can live without facing discrimination most of the time. But, even in Westport, ‘when I go out with my family, in the back of my head, I’m on guard,’ he said.”
If a resident feels unsafe while out with his family, which is my interpretation of Mr. McGunigle’s use of the term “on guard,” do you really believe that a Pride flag hanging in a store window is going to make a resident feel safer?
Also, I am concerned for those businesses that do not display the Pride flag. Will the owners be deemed bigots? Perhaps some people will boycott these businesses for this (perceived) reason. This well-intentioned endeavor could lead to further division in Westport, in my view.
— Elaine
Maybe a little less self-promotion would enable assimilation assuming that’s the goal. If you can’t feel safe in Westport than maybe the problem lies elsewhere.
Hells Angels in Westport? I must have missed that but if they’re from 3rd St. I know en’.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/13/Hells-Angels-and-the-zoning-battle/4097421646400/
Arnie Kaye wanted to roll out the Welcome Wagon for the Hell’s Angels in the 1980’s.
That’s worth it’s own story!
From the Bridgeport Chapter of HAMC..They frequent a particular establishment in town almost every Saturday and have for decades.