Hulk Smaaaaaaaaaash!

So there's this Event held in Central Florida the first week in June. It's a huge festival, with all kinds of parties and gatherings held all over the area, including days at the company I work for, which does not actually sponsor the event. I got a call at work today from the TA for a man, due to arrive with his family tomorrow, who was just mortally offended by the idea of my employer being connected to this event in any way. The TA requested a phone number for someone at my workplace who could "comfort" the client. It's been three hours since I took that call, and I'm still absolutely ballistic about it. I've had similar calls before, and I can never get over someone thinking it's okay to announce, "Hey, I'm a bigot!" about this one group when they'd never, ever say it in public if they thought the same thing of other groups, like, oh, brown people or fat people- scratch that, they might say it about us less-thinners if they'd say it about teh gheys. I'm just... utterly enraged. For one thing, my employer happens to be "committed to diversity." Ya know what that means? For the one week a year there are a lot of people in red shirts about, there are 51 other weeks where your concierge, your wait staff, your Costumed Entertainers (hee... are they the opposite of "Watchmen"'s Costumed Adventurers?), are pretty darned likely to have orientations you aren't aware of. A certain number of them may well be LGBT- or even *gasp* NOT, and you might not know... cause it's NOT YOUR BUSINESS, thankyouverymuch.

I wouldn't be quite so angry if I hadn't, during the very tactful convo, suggested to the TA that maybe she could help her client by Googling the schedule of events and telling them which days are planned where so that they could choose alternate destinations. I came home and did that myself, and found the calendar (euFURbia!?! Squee, I wanna go!!), as well as links to some truly bigoted nonsense which I REFUSE to link to, from certain groups demanding their followers boycott this week and asking that this event we don't sponsor or plan be held at night only, with separate, special party tickets. Number one, the festival in question has pretty awesome parties planned at night already, and number two...whatwhatWHAT???!!!!!??? Are we gonna start doing this every day? Do we need new drinking fountains, too? And how, exactly, do you get someone to prove they are or aren't of an orientation? Is there a membership card? Shoot, I'd kiss a girl just BECAUSE if asked to "prove" anything like that. GARRRRRRR, I'm just livid. And ya know what? I've had two weekends in a row at my workplace, and was ready to chill on my days off this week, maybe paint some of the new apartment, but I think, just 'cause of this garbage, I might be turning out at some point this week, too, just to hope to help hear the local news talk about a "record crowd." Bigots. Grr.