Gay “soldiers” bait small town southerners into homophobic altercation

It’s the opening scene to a stereotypical LGBT nightmare- a small-town southern restaurant patron becomes openly disgusted with a display of affection between two same-sex partners in uniform, leaving witnesses to worry about how such a scene is going to pan out with the locals.

That was the stage set by ABC News’ morality reality series, What Would You Do?, hosted by John Quiñones, who chose the BoxCar Grille in Claremont, North Carolina to set up their interactive and unsuspecting dinner theatre.

The scenario -delivered by actors- is as follows: a middle-aged woman at the grille tries to hit on a horrendously out-of-regs uniformed “soldier” who rejects her advances before embracing his same-sex soldier partner (who also forgot to read AR670-1 uniform regulations), much to the vocal disgust of aforementioned woman.

While it cannot be proven that ABC was hoping for a negative reaction in a North Carolina eatery, it is certainly implied by the manner in which the whole ruse was sprung.

For one couple, it was against their personal and ethical beliefs, but they didn’t think homosexuality was moral or beneficial to national service. Another couple -which included a veteran- felt it was immoral, but felt that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” should be revisited.

“As long as everybody did their job, I didn’t have any issues with it,” the veteran said.

However, stereotypes were broken on this day, as the majority of people -even those with mixed views on homosexuality- stepped up to defend the two soldiers, claiming they have the right to do whatever they please and defend that right with their lives.

“I didn’t like them to come in and [do] what they did, but that’s their right,” one man said, explaining that they have every right to do as they please so long as they aren’t hurting anyone.

“I’m old-fashioned, I reckon,” he responded, when pressed about how he felt about the kiss.

“Lady, drop it okay?” one man told the pseudo-offended actress when she asked the soldiers how gays were allowed to serve in the military. “It doesn’t bother me. We’re here for a meal and they’re here for a meal.”

“What is wrong with you?” he pressed on.

“It’s sickening,” she responded.

“Then leave!” he said, his hoarse voice jumping a few octaves.

When asked by the host how he felt, he responded.

Another woman explained to the actress that “life is life…Let it go.”

However, the final two customers served as a surprise event- including a homosexual female Marine who was home on leave.

“I’ve been doing my job for two years now,” Marine Taylor Moses said. “I’m gay, I have a girlfriend.”

“What happened to a world where you kept your opinion to yourself,” Taylor’s mother chimed in.

“I’m trying to have an enjoyable lunch with my daughter,” the mother added, “and I don’t need no bigot.”

When told the whole thing was a ruse, Taylor explained that you have to keep your cool because everyone has their own opinions, something her mother agreed with.

“Everybody has their own right to believe the way they want to,” Her mom added.

When asked by Quiñones about being gay in the military, the young Marine said it doesn’t matter, and that all services stand up for each other.

“We literally get our job done and..our personal life is our personal life,” she said. “The military is one big family too- it doesn’t matter what branch you are, we’re gonna take up for each other.”

In short, maybe the stage set wasn’t the right one for the show- or was it?

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