The Bully Pulpit of the Family Foundation
The Bully Pulpit of the Family Foundation
How one of Virginia's most influential lobbyists bullies a small restaurant.
The Family Foundation is a conservative lobbyist nonprofit. Nonprofit in the sense that they do not generate a profit. The only service that they provide to the community is advocating and lobbying for conservative policies.
Think that I’m exaggerating? Check out their own statement, “We believe there is no square inch in all the universe over which God has not claimed ‘Mine,’ and that includes the arenas of civil government and public policy where we spend much of our time.”
I would like to take the time to say it is absurd to say that they are a Christian group that advocates on Biblical principles. For example, Exodus 22:25 would compel a Christian lobbyist to advocate against predatory lending. However, The Family Foundation does not have a stance against predatory lending. The issues that the Family Foundation chooses are based on their political beliefs, not the Bible. Referring to them as a Christian group is inaccurate. The Family Foundation is not an organization centering around prayer services or Bible study, but instead a lobbyist of conservative beliefs.
The Family Foundation is classified as a nonpartisan organization. However they are currently holding a contest to win a tour from Republican Delegate Nick Freitas for contestants who subscribe and write a review of their podcast. However, they are legally classified as nonpartisan, but they show a clear preference to one party over another. Public records from the Virginia Public Access Project show that the Family Foundation spends tens of thousands of dollars each year campaigning exclusively for Republicans.
Naturally, a political lobbying group would want to have a private dinner and the Family Foundation’s staff choose Metzger Bar and Butchery in the Richmond neighborhood of Church Hill. In a statement that was later released on Facebook, Metzger's owners denied service to the Family Foundation on the basis of the Family Foundation's political views of denying access to abortion services and opposing LGBTQ rights. It is justifiable for a queer person to refuse to hand over every inch to the Family Foundation's interruption of the Bible.
After the Family Foundation was denied service, Family Foundation’s President Victoria Cobb began to complain about being cancelled in the most predictable and saddest way possible. The article reads like a child throwing a temper tantrum.
Their complaint about a venue cancelling their private party features a noticeable link to their donation page. Within a single paragraph their grievance pivots to solicitation of funds. My old saying is “It's always a grift.”
Oddly enough, one of the major issues on their official website is fighting workplace discrimination. While the Family Foundation lobbies politicians so that businesses can deny service to same-sex without interference from the government, they are now outraged that the business owners of Metzger operated their business according to their conscience. Perhaps the Family Foundation is only concerned with securing an employer's right to deny service to same-sex couples and their idea of workers’ rights ends the second when a worker refuses to provide service to a customer that does not respect their right to marriage whomever they love.
Victoria Cobb immediately embarked on a free publicity tour from conservative news outlets starting with her original article on the Federalist. It would go on to be covered by many more including Fox News, the Daily Signal, the Post Millennial. Not being limited to conservative news outlets, local TV stations and national outlets like The Washington Post and The Guardian have also covered the story. While the Family Foundation has full time staff with seemingly endless time to sit down for news interviews, the small restaurant has limited resources to counter the message of a political lobbying group.
Stories that ignite this kind of national interest come with harassment to their targets. Yelp temporarily disabled reviews on Metzger's page, while Metzger has dealt with other harassment not just online but also in person. On December 6th, local asshole Ron Hedlund showed up with a sign with text that read, “Fuck Biden” and harassed staff and customers.
In the coming weeks, the story about Metzger will fade. The Family Foundation will find a new restaurant that tolerates their reactionary views on LGBTQ community. Most people will forget about this story or simply move on. However, there will still be late adopters who will continue to harass the little restaurant in Church Hill. My suggestion is stand in solidarity with these restaurant workers who fight to prevent bullies like the Family Foundation from transforming every inch of the universe into their personal interpretation of the Bible.