Apparently it isn’t just the Abrahamic religions that lead their adherents to demand discrimination against gay people. A lawsuit filed against an Asian restaurant in New York City alleges that the business refused to host a wedding reception for a gay couple because it was bad for the restaurant’s feng shui.
They decided to have a rehearsal dinner at Amber Village, and also have their big day catered by the Asian fusion joint at Sixth Ave. and 10th St.
On March 23, Greene met with manager Tommy Ho to plan a rehearsal dinner for 40 and reception food for 200 guests, court papers say. Ho took a $750 deposit for the dinner, charging it to Greene’s American Express card.
Exactly a week later, Ho called to say the event might have to be moved to to Amber, a sister restaurant on Christopher St. — a short stroll from the birthplace of the gay pride movement.
The couple contends that later that same day, a senior manager of Amber Village — a man identified only as Mr. Fong — summoned Ho.
“Fong was visibly angry and told Ho that he didn’t want any ‘gay parties’ at Amber Village,” the suit charges.
“Fong instructed Ho to ‘make an excuse’ and tell Greene that his rehearsal dinner could not take place at Amber Village and that his wedding could not be catered by them either.
“Fong also told Ho that it’s ‘very bad’ for Amber Village to book ‘gay parties’ and that big groups of ‘gay partyers’ are especially bad for feng shui.”
Insert your own joke about interior decorating here.
22 comments
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C Tran
September 21, 2012 at 12:12 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
As stupid as feng shui is, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t lead to discrimination of human beings by its nature.
John Hinkle
September 21, 2012 at 12:13 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ah, the mysterious Mr. Fong, with his round, coke-bottle glasses, opium pipe, and sinister laugh. I bet he’s the boss of the East Coast. No one messes with him!
peicurmudgeon
September 21, 2012 at 12:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wouldn’t it solve the problem if the wedding party faced in the opposite direction as straight couples? That should realign the energy.
Zinc Avenger (Sarcasm Tags 3.0 Compliant)
September 21, 2012 at 12:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Teh ghey totally disrupts the flow of chi.
Michael Heath
September 21, 2012 at 12:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And I thought gay men were the most effective U.S. champions in promoting feng shui stateside.
Chiroptera
September 21, 2012 at 12:22 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Feng shui? Couldn’t this problem be solved by moving a table and hanging a plant or something?
Gretchen
September 21, 2012 at 12:27 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
So long as people impute intention and preference to the universe, those intentions and preferences will be uncannily aligned with those of the imputers.
pacal
September 21, 2012 at 12:28 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Actually absurd woo like Feng Shui isn’t the only piece of Woo that flourishes among some East Asians.
In Japan there is among many employers a fetish about Blood Types. all too often one of the recuirements for applying for a job is a given blood type.
I’m not sure where or when this particular superstition arose.
And least we feel superior let us remember our societies fascination with Horoscopes.
heddle
September 21, 2012 at 12:31 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ha!
Abby Normal
September 21, 2012 at 12:38 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You know what’s even worse for your feng shui, an open and shut discrimination lawsuit.
andrewjohnston
September 21, 2012 at 12:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This story doesn’t smell right to me. Feng shui as it’s practiced in East Asia is primarily concerned with the facing of doors and windows and the presence of obstructions. It has never had anything to do with people. Frankly, it sounds like the sort of “Asian” thing a 50-year old white man might dream up.
Speaking of which, it’s worth looking at the comments under the Daily News article. There’s a fair bit of casual racism down there.
Gretchen
September 21, 2012 at 12:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I don’t know why one would feel superior given that people are not responsible for their societies, but I am at least grateful that in mine most employers could hardly give less of a damn about your horoscope.
criticaldragon1177
September 21, 2012 at 12:42 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ed Brayton,
This is the first time I heard about this.
ArtK
September 21, 2012 at 12:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Religion, whatever its form, makes a convenient slip cover for bigotry.
Abby Normal
September 21, 2012 at 1:05 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Personal aside: Inspired by this I once used APositive as my handle for an online dating site. I wasn’t getting a lot of interest and couldn’t figure out why. I’m usually pretty good at advertising myself. Eventually one kind soul took pity and clued me in. Here in the west, particularly amongst my pool of likely suitors, “positive” was assumed to be a reference to my HIV status. Strangely my new handle of Crabs4U hasn’t been doing much better. Who knew shellfish would be so unpopular.
Pierce R. Butler
September 21, 2012 at 1:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
A reasonably informative headline, but from now on please leave the rhymes to trained specialists.
Christoph Burschka
September 21, 2012 at 1:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Discrimination lawsuits don’t seem to be much of a danger to their feng shui…
fifthdentist
September 21, 2012 at 1:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, I can understand the concern about gaying up Christopher Street.
Ed Brayton
September 21, 2012 at 1:42 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Gretchen wrote:
That is a very elegantly worded statement, and absolutely true. Worthy of Hitchens. Bravo.
abb3w
September 22, 2012 at 1:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@19, Ed Brayton:
Elegant, and excellent. But absolute? Finagle’s Law may be a psychologically interesting counterexample. Contrariwise, that formulation of Murphy’s Law traces back to John W. Campbell Jr, who was reportedly an atheist and at the least a freethinker.
Chris Hall
September 22, 2012 at 3:51 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And one of the earliest enthusiasts of Scientology.
abb3w
September 22, 2012 at 5:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@21, Chris Hall:
Looking around, it looks more like he was supporting the pseudo-science of Dianetics rather than the nascent religious heirarchy of Scientology. That’s a narrow sort of distinction in sins, of course. Either way, his early support for Scientology seems depressingly only the most durable of his sins, not the most egregious. Of possible relevance here, his less-than-critical enthusiasm for various forms of pseudoscience and his wide streak of racism and other ethnocentric bigotry.
He seems to fit some of the tropes I associate to the high-SDO/low-RWA types… which still seem quite common in the modern Secularist/Skeptic movement.
Perhaps another reminder that atheism isn’t an intellectual panacea.