MS Coast restaurant’s anti-gay Celebration of Couples Day social media post draws fire
A Mississippi Coast restaurant faced quick backlash from the surrounding community, business leaders and LGBTQ+ groups after posting a now-viral video offering a meal special for only couples who “can produce a child.”
Darwell and Nettie Mechelle Yeager, a married couple who run Darwell’s Happiness Cafe in Long Beach, posted the video promoting a Celebration of Couples Day to the restaurant’s Facebook page on Wednesday.
In the video, the business owners stand in the cafe’s kitchen, and Darwell says the special only applies to “the real kind of couple.”
“If you’re a couple — husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, guy and girl. Couple,” Darwell emphasized.
“We don’t do the trans or the lesbians or gays. I’m sorry. That’s down the street,” Nettie said, wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses.
The video has since been deleted, but it circulated again on social media after a nearby business, Trax Bar and Grill, posted a screen recording of the clip Wednesday afternoon, criticizing the Yeagers for not being inclusive of gay couples and for suggesting that any couple who could not conceive children also were not welcome.
Darwell’s video sparks outrage
A string of enraged responses filled the comment section, almost all of them decrying the opinions of the Yeagers.
The Gulf Coast Equality Council, a nonprofit organization for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, released a statement about the video Thursday morning, stating that “no one should be made to feel unwelcome simply for being who they are.” Local food influencers Your Barefoot Neighbor and Mississippi Kween also responded, voicing their disapproval.
Angela Singletary, president of the anti-bullying organization The Society, said she plans to lead a peaceful protest outside the restaurant Friday.
“It’s important that we don’t allow this kind of discrimination and these kinds of comments to... just go. We can’t just let them go,” Singletary said Thursday afternoon. “They have to be addressed, and people have to be held accountable.”
An apology from Darwell’s owners
On Thursday morning, Nettie made a statement on her personal Facebook account, apologizing to anyone who was offended by their comments. The Yeagers had maintained throughout the controversy that their comments were based upon their religious beliefs.
“I’m not perfect and I get my feelings hurt too,” the post read. “Not always right. But I’m human too.. I’m truly sorry if you got offended or misunderstood something not meant to hurt anyone... .”
Darwell reposted the apology on his Facebook page six times, after releasing his own statement where he said he was “tired of being bullied by the Left” and said his business was not going to fail.
He added that others will support him because of his beliefs. Below the statement was a photo of Darwell, his arms crossed as he grimaced at the camera with a chef’s knife in hand.
Darwell’s Happiness Cafe prides itself for serving “real food for real people” and gained traction after its shrimp creole dish was featured in Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” In 2016, Forbes magazine named it one of the best restaurants of the year.
The Yeagers declined to comment when asked for a statement at their restaurant on Thursday.
Other restaurants speak out
Mississippi House Bill 1523 — better known as Religious Liberty Accommodations Act — was passed into law in 2016, giving organizations the legal right to deny services to members of the LGBTQ+ community based on religious views.
The legislation was passed in a state where 3.5% of the population identifies as LGBTQ+, according to the Williams Institute, and 34% of the community raises children.
The passing of the law under then-Gov. Phil Bryant shocked the Mississippi Coast, a place that largely votes conservative but is known for being socially liberal. HB 1523 prompted the creation of the “If you’re buying, we’re selling” campaign, which gave local businesses the opportunity to place a decal in a noticeable place to let shoppers know all were welcome.
Bay St. Louis photographer Ann Madden went a step further, creating “All Are Welcome” signs that many businesses across the city used. The sign eventually became a mural outside of The Mockingbird Cafe, a popular downtown restaurant and coffee shop.
Madden resurrected her signs on Thursday, offering them up again to Long Beach businesses.
“How sad that we are here again,” Madden said.
Other business and restaurant leaders also spoke out this week.
Jessica Notter, owner of Trax Bar and Grill, said she was hurt by the words she heard in the video. Trax often hosts drag shows, which have become more and more popular on the Mississippi Coast.
“The disgust I feel for statements made in this video is immeasurable; and, if you watch it and find yourself agreeing with this low life, then I suggest you not set foot into Trax Bar,” she said on Facebook.
William Rester, who owns several restaurants in downtown Long Beach not far from Darwell’s, encouraged Coast residents to come to his spots and eat, where they can always be their true selves.
Lauren Joffrion, corporate executive chef for Secret Coast Restaurant Group that operates seven restaurants across the Coast, said she felt compelled to make a statement.
“I wasn’t going to say anything, but all in all, you reap what you sow, she said on Facebook. “Hate gets you nowhere.”
Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee contributed to this report.