The head of a conservative Christian group in Virginia speaks out after members of her organization were turned away from a restaurant based solely on their religious views.
Victoria Cobb, president of the nonprofit Christian lobbying organization Family Foundation of Virginia, told Fox News Digital that several members of her group were scheduled to hold a private event in a side room at Metzger Bar and Butchery in Richmond, Virginia. , when they received a call an hour and a half before the reservation saying that their reservation had been cancelled.
The reason given for the cancellation, according to Cobb, was that a restaurant staff member had consulted the organization’s website, which states that the group advocates “policies based on biblical principles that enable families to prosper in the state and local level”, which caused the waiters to refuse to serve the group.
“It is alarming and shameful for a restaurant to have a religious or political litmus test to determine who walks in the door,” Cobb told Fox News Digital. “I think people will find it very disturbing.”
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President of the Virginia Victoria Cobb Family Foundation
(Virginia Family Foundation)
Metzger Bar & Butchery recognized in a social media post that they had in fact canceled the reservation due to the religious beliefs and political advocacy of the foundation.
“Metzger Bar and Butchery has always prided itself on being an inclusive environment for people to dine in,” the post said. “In eight years of service, we have rarely turned down someone who wanted to dine with us. We recently turned down a group that had booked an event with us after the Metzger owners discovered it was a group of donors for a political organization that seeks to deprive women and LGBTQ+ people of their basic human rights in Virginia.”
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Metzger’s Bar & Butcher Shop in Richmond, Virginia.
(FoxNews)
The publication added that the restaurant “has always denied service to anyone for making our staff uncomfortable,” which was the “driving force” behind the decision.
“Many of our staff are women and/or members of the LGBTQ+ community. All of our staff are people with rights who deserve dignity and a safe work environment. We respect the established rights of our staff as human beings and strive to create a work environment where they can do their jobs with dignity, comfort and safety.
Cobb told Fox News Digital that his group strongly believes in treating everyone with respect and took issue with the restaurant’s explanation.
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Metzger Bar & Grill, a Richmond restaurant, has come under fire after refusing to serve a Christian organization.
(Fox News (screenshot))
“It is incredibly disingenuous to take pride in creating an inclusive environment and advertise it to defend how you exclude people from your restaurant,” Cobb said.
Cobb said that if his group had been allowed to eat at the establishment, the servers would have been met with a “very friendly bunch of people who treated them well and gave them good tips.”
“Virginia’s discrimination laws are clear, it could be a very clear violation of religious discrimination,” Cobb said. “Because that’s what you find on our website, that all of our views are taken directly and intentionally from Biblical admonitions, and that we are a faith-based organization.”
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Since the incident became public, the Family Foundation says they have been inundated with hate mail, of which Fox News Digital has obtained dozens.
“Fuck you, fuck your religion,” read one message with the subject line “commit yourself.” “Each of you should face retaliation.”
Another message referred to the group as “Bible freaks” and used the phrase “Hail Satan!”
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Cobb says he hasn’t received any communication from the restaurant since the incident and would be “happy to talk” with the property “at any time” about the situation.
Fox News Digital contacted Metzger Bar and Butchery and the establishment declined to comment beyond its explanation on social media.
