In a snarky marketing strategy that turned into a massive, online slugging match, a bar in Idaho decided to announce that, henceforth, it will be treating June not as “Pride Month” but rather “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,” a clear shot at the LGBTQ+ focus of the month. Many commenters loved the post, but others also hated it, started a large fight in the Facebook post’s comments.
In the post, the bar, Old State Saloon, announced that this June will be the inaugural “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month” for the bar and its patrons, saying, “June will be OSS’s inaugural Heterosexual Awesomeness Month! Come join us all month to celebrate heterosexuals, for without them, none of us would be here!”
Continuing, it announced that it would celebrate the month with a free draft beer for heterosexual males, saying, “Each Monday will be Hetero Male Monday and any heterosexual male dressed like a heterosexual male will receive a free draft beer. Each Wednesday is Heterosexual couples day and each heterosexual couple will receive 15% off their bill. More events to be announced in the coming weeks. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to stay informed.”
That post received four and a half thousand likes and over three and a half thousand comments, with varying degrees of fury from the detractors in the comments. That then led the Old State Saloon to post about the foul language in its comments section, saying, “It seems as though people who are against Heterosexual Awesomeness Month have a hard time commenting without using horrific words, expletives, using the name of the Lord in vain, etc. Make an intelligent comment and stay. Cuss and you are banned. Thanks. We’ve banned about 25 already.”
Then in another follow up post, one which came after the post took off on Facebook and online generally, leading many people to check out the bar online and in person. Thanking those who aren’t normal patrons but visited its page anyway, the bar said, “We’d like to thank all the out of state folks for visiting our FB page for our local bar here in Eagle, Idaho! God Bless and have a great day!”
Another post led to a fundraising link that said, “Since we announced Hetero Awesomeness Month we’ve had some significant backlash: theft of our property, vendors refusing to fulfill our orders for ingredients, wedding catering cancelation [sic], libel, slander – even the owner being falsely accused of being a sex offender.”
That fundraiser page went on to provide, “But, to the credit of the community that is rational and reasonable, we’ve also received so much support from like-minded people who want to celebrate “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month” with us, and get the concept of it as being about freedom and being true to our personal values.”
Predictably, the post’s comments section was filled with people who thought arguing with an Idaho bar about Pride Month was the best use of time. One commenter, for example, said, “This is horridly disappointing. I can handle differing political views. I CANNOT handle bigotry and hate towards marginalized communities. Many of the people in my karaoke group are LGBTQ+. They now do not feel safe among your staff or patrons. Spin it however you think you can, but this is a blatant attack against the queer community. As a long time ally who worked with Boise Pride for many years, I have seen first hand the hurt that this kind of attitude causes. I can’t support any establishment that would spit in the face of an entire community this way.”
Similarly, another detractor wrote, “Wild social experiment you’re doing here. There’s no hate being expressed and what you’re advocating is entirely appropriate, and fair. Yet…it’s met with hate, intolerance, and a range of emotional reactions. It’s a false-equivalency to say Old State is expressing hate by simply expressing something that others may not agree with. If this is “hate”, then so is advocating “Pride” this month. Simple critical thinking and logic.”
