A London business that is refusing to provide service to anyone in the LGBTQ community is being shunned for its position and its anti-LGBT posts on social media.
Laser in Motion, a laser engraving business located in the city, posted a pair of comments on its Facebook page on Monday, accusing the "group of people called LGBT" of "harassing our business with passion." The business had also previously posted a comment that stated, "If you are one of the LGBT, please do not come to me for any service whatsoever. Thanks for your understanding."
"To this harassment, we say: please do not come to us, we don't have to deal with it. We are not the only one business that does engraving. Feel free to go to others who are LGBT. We fully support traditional, heterosexual marriage and if this is wrong in your eyes, there is nothing we can do about it, however, we have the right to express where our support is," the business said in one of its posts on Monday. "Now the group calls our reply a 'hate speech' because we say what we believe in. Good job LGBT, looks like everyone who is not part of your community has no rights in this country."
The comments quickly garnered outrage from well over a thousand Facebook users accusing the company of homophobia and promoting discrimination. The posts also caught the attention of London North Centre MPP Terence Kernaghan who shared his views on the business's message to the LGBTQ community.
"It's disturbing that a local #LdnOnt business posted homophobic comments online during a time when discrimination against the #LGBTQ community is on the rise. I'm so proud of the Londoners who spoke up against this hate and reminded us that #LoveWins in London," Kernaghan said.
Andrew Rosser, president of Pride London Festival, said he first became aware of the company earlier this month after Laser in Motion owner John Korzec referred to the ten-day festival, which began on July 18, as a "freak celebration" in a Facebook comment.
"I wrote a review on his [business's] Facebook page saying we won't support somebody who says that about Pride," said Rosser in an interview with Blackburn News. "It's pretty ridiculous that in 2019 anybody can be so vocal about being discriminatory. Usually, these people keep it to themselves and fester away with their terrible ideas of life."
Rosser said a number of clients who have utilized engraving services from Laser in Motion have been contacted by concerned members of the public to make them aware of the views of the business.
"The responses from the community and our allies have been massive and I think he's definitely gotten the message," said Rosser. "The way you can combat this is by not supporting that business."
Blackburn News has reached out to Laser in Motion for comment, but calls were not returned prior to publication. As well, minutes after being contacted through Facebook for comment, the Facebook page for Laser in Motion was removed from public view. Korzec, who is listed on Linkedin as the owner of Laser in Motion, has also not responded to requests for comment.
According to Korzec's Linkedin page, his business has been operating in London for the last 11 years. His personal Facebook page was also riddled with anti-LGBT rhetoric such as promoting "straight pride" or "heterosexual pride month" with pictures depicting male and female figures holding an umbrella to protect a child from a falling rainbow. Some of the posts were removed prior to this publication but were screen-captured beforehand.
"I think it's really important that we realize that homophobia, transphobia and racism are rampant still. In the last year or two, it's really become ok [for some people] to publically post these things and spew hate," said Rosser. "It's kind of like it's been given a green light to kind of spew hate and it's really unfortunate... It definitely seems like we're in a time when people don't censor those things as much."
Rosser added that he is curious to see if a human rights complaint is filed against the business. The Canadian Human Rights Act In Canada prevents anyone from being denied service based on discriminatory factors such as race, religion, sex, and age.
[gallery ids="1998928,1998929"]
