North Carolina Mall Apologizes To Lesbian Couple After Security Guards Asked Them To Leave For Being Too Affectionate

The Raleigh News and Observer reports that officials from Cameron Village mall met Saturday with 29 year old Caitlin Breedlove and her girlfriend after the couple complained of anti-gay discrimination by a female security guard and her supervisor, alleging they were asked to leave the mall Wednesday after they held hands and shared an affectionate kiss. In statement, George York, president of York Properties, said that “The meeting was brief and amiable. We welcomed the opportunity to sit down with the women and offer our sincere regrets over last week’s incident. We apologized that the women were offended and we affirmed that Cameron Village and York Properties, Inc. have no tolerance for discrimination of any kind and believe that all people deserve the right to be treated fairly in their work, homes and daily lives.” The female security guard has been suspended and reassigned. Breedlove, who is the co-director of Southerners on New Ground, a social justice group that advocates on issues of gender, immigration, sexuality, and race, accepted the apology, but still intends to stage a rally Sunday afternoon across from Cameron Village. Local homophobe, the Reverend Patrick Wooden, pastor of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ, defended the security guard, applauding her attempt to maintain decorum, saying it is “disgrace” she was suspended, adding that it is the couple who requires sensitivity training. “If people are out there shopping with their little children, what are you going say, ‘I kissed a girl and I liked it?’” said Wooden in awkward effort to appear culturally relevant.