El Coyote Restaurant Manager Regrets Prop 8 Donation

True BUT the whole point of publicaly putting pressure on businesses to be accountable for their donations is to get statements of retraction like this, no?
While she can't take back her contribution or her vote, if this becomes a trend it definitely weakens the Prop 8 supporters case. If being against gay marriage becomes a source of public shame, then the demonstrations of the last week are really doing their job!
Besides, maybe to express her regret (real or feigned) she'll make a contribution to the anti Prop 8 side.

I think her argument of a change of heart as a Mormon would go a lot further if she held a meeting at happy hour with free, very dry margaritas...

I love talking about the church over a drink.

Bottom line..she could have said NO to donating on that specific issue. She says she "donated to the church". Then tell me why the donation shows up UNDER HER NAME and HER PLACE OF BUISNESS!

If it were indeed a donation to her church wouldn't it just be included in a blanket donation from the LDS? That $100 came from her pocket directly to the coffers of the Yes on 8 folks.

I sat next to Charo once at El Coyote when I was like 8 years old with my mom. Charo loved me.

This public retraction is a sign of cultural shifting. This is a good thing.

^^^^That was in regards to comment #9

Obviously, it's sad (at best) that folks are blinding letting any org (especially a religious one)influence their voting. Or, maybe, one simply needs to have a better understanding of what they are voting for.

On the other hand, maybe if more people came out saying that the Mormon church mislead their flock it will help a) get their tax exempt status revoked, b) help outlaw out of state financial contributions and c) help reinforce the importance of the separation of church and state. Seriously, can we use this as evidence when we submit a Tax Exempt Organization Complaint to the IRS??

I am unable to find a retraction in the above article. I see that she feels bad that she's offended people, and that she wants to talk. But nowhere does it say she retracts her vote. You people are reading too much into things.

i loathe that place anyway. the hot salsa is gross. i hope the line of cars that block Beverly each night begin to thin out ofter her donation.

BOYCOTT OF EL COYOTE:

Thursday, November 13th @ 7:00pm
El Coyote (7312 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036)

Bring signs & friends!

The beauty of America is that it is a FREE COUNTRY. People are allowed to have different opinions, freedom of speech. Look at the gay community fighting for rights and to be heard. AND ITS HORRIBLE WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO SILENCE YOU. SO WHY WOULD YOU SILENCE A PERSON FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE? WOW WHAT A DOUBLE STANDARD. You want to ruin business because of 1 person? What about the employees, about 90% of them are gay. You are hurting the people you are fighting for. Did Margie ever tell people that she supported gay marriage then stab you in the back? Probably not. Its a restaurant, all people from different walks of life go there. Blacks, whites, men, women, straight and gay. The restaurant is open to the everyone. Wouldnt it be better to take your fighT to a higher place? El Coyote is not going to change the law. And going after every person that donated money and "Making" them change there mind by force telling them they cant vote the way they did. And they cant feel the way they feel, ISNT THAT WHAT MANY OF YOU WERE TOLD WHEN YOU FIRST TOLD FRIENDS, FAMILY THAT YOU WERE GAY? AND IT WASNT RIGHT. THIS IS AMERICA. AND HOW GREAT WE ARE WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT AND FREEDOMS THAT NO OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE. SO LETS NOT MAKE US TAKE A STEP BACK!

Please try to keep an open mind. Over the 25 years I've been going to El Coyote, I've met Margie many times and she has consistently been lovely and gracious. I love the mix of people there, one of the best in LA. It's an LA institution. Ask the gay people who work with her what they think. Wouldn't they know? Try a little compassion and empathy - isn't that what we want? What's this rush to crucify people about?

You have to give people a chance to change their thinking. Regardless, although this place has good atmosphere, wonderful staff, and passable drinks, the authenticity of their food is substandard, and their salsa is tomato sauce from a can. Mi abuela is turning in her grave!

You say religious group, msmerymac, I say religious cult. What Margie did, by her own admission, constitutes cult behavior. Her church said donate. She donated. She donated to put the human rights of people she called friends and patrons of her business to a majority vote. Screw El Coyote and Margie and every business owner who donated to Yes on Prop 8. If people like Margie abdicate their decisionmaking to their church, or if they knowingly or ignorantly make a decision to take away the rights of others, I don't want to hear them whine about their ignorance or blind obedience when they have to suffer real world consequences. Boo hoo. Maybe next time Margie and others like her will think for themselves. Or better yet, leave the religious cult that caused them to behave against their own best interests.

As a Christian myself, I know I should forgive her. But it makes me angry to see so MANY people come to this point TOO LATE for it to do any good.

What do I care what you think now? I needed your help before the election, when I was begging for your help.

Accepting free food feels like selling out my community for an enchilada. And not even a very good enchilada.

Maybe I'll go and not eat.

If you think this is "so what", then you don't understand "freedom of religion." Consonant with the "freedom of religion" is the "freedom from religion". Nobody is preventing Marjorie from practicing her religion or her blind servitude to her cult church. However,Marjorie and the millions who voted for Prop 8 on the basis of their religion have actually denied the rest of us the freedom to be free from their religion. And when you get down to it, religious conviction is really just the strawman religious people cite to cover what is, for the most part, their homophobic bigotry.

You see, if GLBT people have the same secular right to marry as everyone else, that doesn't impose on anyone's ability to practice his or her religion. Religious bigots are free to continue to hate GLBT people, and free not to get married to one. But the religious bigots who donated to and voted for Prop 8 weren't satisfied with the freedom to practice their religion. They imposed their religion on the rest of us by force of law. Do you see the difference?

You can't have freedom of religion if you don't also have freedom from religion. Secular marriage is a civil right, a human right. We all deserve the same rights, notwithstanding any individual's religious beliefs.

I don't necessarily disagree with people going to hear her apologize (assuming she intends to apoligize). And I don't have a problem if some are willing to forgive her. I just won't be one of them. The fact she may be a "nice" person who treats her customers with respect to their faces, doesn't make her actions to put their human rights to a popular vote, whether based on ignorance, indifference, or blind faith, any less reprehensible.

I have been on other sites and read other blogs and Im very upset by the hate, the words etc used. it doesnt help your cause. I also dont think what I saw today at el coyote is helping your cause. No organization and lots of shouting. And you want $$$ isnt it a form of blackmail what you are doing. just dont go to el coyote or any place that is not for you... there are alot. who will give the gay employees a job when el coyote closes? You picked on margie cuz shes donated money then cuz she was a mormon and oh no a republican. Well guess what I am a married female, I VOTED FOR YOU. I AM THE ONLY ONE OUT OF MY ENTITRE FAMILY THAT DID. I am also A REPUBLICAN!!! I married into a MORMON family and Straight and i still voted for you, but i am really starting to regret my vote so you are suceeding in changing minds mine. Im tired of hearing about its because someone is black or white young or old republican or democrat, mormon, catholic whatever religion or not. I AM NUMBER 1 a PERSON with feelings. WOW A REPUBLICAN WITH FEELINGS. Boycott california like someone said above. California is in enough trouble people loosing jobs, homes etc.. do you wwant to be responsible for more people and gay people losing there jobs...

horserotorvator, I agree with you about the cult thing. Then again, I think most religions can be classified as cults. :-) I would never donate to a cause unless I felt really, really strongly about it, and a week or two of retrospection would definitely not reverse my thinking on something I felt strongly enough about to donate money for.

But, hey, she feels bad. You might doubt her sincerity, but I don't think running her business into the ground or ruining the life of one person who donated $100 for prop 8 and then voted for it (like a few million other people) is productive. If what we, the no-on-8, equality-for-all people are demanding is tolerance and respect, it's time to stop the outraged hatred bordering on violence approach. We aren't converting anyone. People will hopefully learn by example. Seriously, if you have a violent gay man pointing a sign in your face and yelling, you really might be scared for your children. If you have a bunch of people singing in a circle and marching peacefully, or reaching out to their community, you'll see that people are the same, and all deserve respect. The civil rights movement for African Americans fell apart when it became violent and separatist. They never did accomplish all of their goals. Let's learn from that, and from Dr. King. I know we want our way right now, but in the end, mutual respect will be in our best interest. (And yes, I KNOW the yes-on-8 people don't respect homosexuals. But let's not stoop to their level.)

why have you been going to a establishment that is ran by republicans? Since your mostly democrats. Boycott for that.... any reason you can think.. Margie offered money today to the gay/lesbain org. But would not go againest prop 8 and that wasnt good enough for you... Why do you live in america... Would you want to be back in the closet?

I applaud the Mormon who stood for their belief. Now, she should reach for the majority which is more than 52% for their patronage and hopefully a lot of gays will continue to patronize her business. Since San Francisco have a poor voter turnout, because a larg eportion of gays do not wish or support gay marriage.

For those morons who think that all gays are No on 8 people, it is like every one assuming that all Blacks voted for Obama.

GET EDUCATED ON THIS ISSUE AND HOW THE MAJORITY OF THE U.S SEES IT, ABOUT 87%.
The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is the short title of a federal law of the United States passed on September 21, 1996 as Public Law No. 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419. Its provisions are codified at 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C. The law has two effects:

No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) need treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state.
The Federal Government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.

Definition of 'marriage' and 'spouse':
In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”[

We're familiar with DOMA. And it's definitely on the list of things to do something about.

Meanwhile, back to the restaurant owner, there's a way she could have followed her conscience and kept her privacy in tact - voting is by secret ballot. I don't think anyone here supports prying into another person's voting history for signs of what they believe.

But if she's willing to be publicly counted as a supporter of prop 8, right down to giving a considerable amount of money for someone who isn't rich, then she ought to be willing to accept the pissed-the-fuck-off that's going to come from her loyal patrons who are suprised as shit to find out that a friend basically stabbed them in the back.

No one is arguing that she doesn't have the right to her ideals. More power to her. But she doesn't have the right to customers. If she doesn't want to make up with the gay patrons of her diner, though it looks like she does and here's hoping everything went well, then as you say, she can look for other customers.

Meanwhile, none of this addresses the so called values of the proponents of Prop 8 - that is, the fact that the organizers of the bill and Christin Ministers all over the state lied through their fucking teeth about california law to freak people out and get them to vote yes on Prop 8.

Liars for Christ. hAs a nice, and true, ring to it. That's some more of those good old fashioned conservative values I've been hearing about, I guess. Awesome.

Seriously, what does it say about the proponents of Prop 8 that they couldn't get this to pass without lying through their teeth. Great, just wonderful people.

I do want to say though that let's not get into the habit of calling Mormonism a cult. It's no more ridiculous and retarded a religion that regular strength Christianity. It certainly isn't a cult in the sense we've come to understand the word (Jim Jones, the moonies, etc.)

LOL....CARRIE!!!

Thanks for pointing out the inaccuracy of the cult label, Ross. It's true--Mormonism isn't any more ridiculous for believing that a guy in the 1800's was visited by an angel and asked to start a new church than mainstream Christianity is for believing a guy walked across water or Buddhism is for believing that one was a hedgehog in a previous life. Religion is awfully hard to understand from the outside and devotees often do things that seem extreme to others.

She gave $100 to a political movement that she believed in. She didn't think out the consequences of her actions and who she would hurt. Though it's angering for anyone who cares passionately about No on 8, is it worth all this uproar in a "let's heal the community and create change" way? This whole situation smacks of a feeding frenzy (and I'm not referring to the free lunch.)

If Barack hadn't have been elected, would we be boycotting business and individuals who donated a few bucks to McCain?

Wait... don't answer that...

I am a lesbian and used to work for El Coyote. I worked there for 8 years and I know Margie. She is a very sweet woman. Let me be clear that I don't agree with the $100.00 that she gave to the Mormon Church, but I really do believe she was unaware of the consequences. I want to share with you the good things she has provided for her employees...medical insurance, dental insurance, paid vacation and Christmas bonuses. There's something we all have to remember here...there are other companies out there who gave a hell of a lot more money then she did... We live in a country, USA, the land of the free. Freedom of speech. We have a right to vote how we feel. That is what America is all about. I agree with everyone's outrage that a 8 passed.We need to focus on how to overturn this.
Instead of focusing on a mom and pop operation, we should also look at the other much larger companies that poured thousands and possibly millions of dollars into passing prop 8. If we would picket them and make them realize that we have a very large voice out there, maybe we could persuade them to think differently.
Focus on how we can get this put into law. Focus on the lawmakers and the general public. We need to educate people not persecute them, because then we are no better than they are.

KristS, if you are interested in understanding precisely what Prop 8 took away from GLBT Californians, I suggest you read the California Supreme Court's decision in "In re Marriage Cases" (http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/archive/S147999.PDF)

The decision is about so much more than the right to marry. It's an affirmation of the equality that the constitution affords to all Californians, and in this particular case to gay Californians. It's an affirmation that the state (government) is not permitted to treat gays any differently than everyone else. What Prop 8 did is force the state to treat us differently. That's what's so perverted and immoral and disgusting about Prop 8. It said the government must treat GLBT Californians as second class citizens, even though the constitution says you can't do that.

Constitutions are meant to give people rights (like freedom of speech and religion); they aren't supposed to take them away. That is how Prop 8 supporters have perverted the California Constitutions (this goes the same for the many other state constitutions that have been perverted by measures like Prop 8). If you believe a constitution should provide equality to everyone under the law (and who doesn't believe that?), then a constitution can't say everyone must be treated equal and at the same time take rights away from one particular group of people (in this case gays).

So Prop 8 really comes down to the choice: do you want a constitution that mandates equality for everyone, or a constitution that permits the majority to decide who gets what rights? People who would choose the latter option (and there are plenty, as reprehensible as that is) are people who believe they are in the majority and always will be. But that's the funny thing about majorities. They change over time so that those who are in the majority now and think they should have the right to pick and choose what rights the rest of us have could just as easily find themselves in the minority, having their rights tinkered with. That's why the only option that makes any sense is a constitution that simply requires everyone be treated equal, regardless of the present majority's beliefs or opinions

As a very outspoken opponent of Prop 8, I must say that it's time for the No on 8 organizers to call for an end to this shameful behavior. It's counterproductive, embarrassing and totally hypocritical. We need to focus on moving forward and not on the misguided people who followed their religious leaders and give a paltry amount of money. Really, this is getting ridiculous.

why should margie be expected to give anyone anything. She has the same rights as you do and she can donate to whom she chooses. El Coyote is not a gay only place sorry. If we chose to boycott business that donated to no on prop 8 then we would be biggots and this and that. Why is your way the only way? And you really should take your protest to the lawmakers, supreme court etc. All this energy over margies $100.00 just think of how far you could go if you took your fight to the right place. And i am taxpayer that is footing the bill for the extra police officers needed for your protests. Really wish the extra officers could be used to solve crimes etc. Honestly its not all of you, just a small group of you that are making it look bad for all of you. The anger and the hate is not from the straight people it is from you. And by the way No publicity is bad publicity... El Coyote has had a surge of prop 8 supporters coming to show there support. And even sum of the gays crossed your picketts, to which they were subject to your name calling. And you want to be married and have children then i read the post above how you were cussing in front of children, calling there mother names.... Is this behavior what you would want your child to see? You are pushing yourselfs back in the closet.....

A lot of people here make good points and I wanted to add my two cents. I know from arguments with friends, it is very hard to reconcile a lifetime of religious teachings with what they might know in their heart. Sounds like Margie is a good person and it's hard for her to reconcile this - she likes gays but also likes her church.

What we should focus on is helping people find a blance so they can join us against prop 8.
My humble option is that it starts with a fundamental issue of language. It would do a lot to separate the religious "marriage" from legal "marriage" by definition. If you call the religious process marriage and the legal process civil union that could work. Then you can have a belief about religious marriage (for your church) and a DIFFERENT belief about civil unions for other people/religions. And, before you get up in arms - civil unions should be for EVERYONE not applied just to the gay community. For example, I'm straight and getting married next year but my "marriage" will happen in a church and my "civil union" happens when I get the license at the court house.

We need to stop acting hateful and violent and start being open and warm to those that we can help educate and offer guidance in finding ways that people who might belong to a religion that doesn't support gay marriage can come to terms with how their religious beliefs can coexist with the idea of gay marriage. For example, say an LDS (or Catholic or Christian) goes to a church that is against gay marriage - you could perhaps use the fact that their bible also says that God loves ALL people and that although the church doesn't believe in gay marriage - it's not their job to judge those that get married by other institutions. It's about giving them a way that they can stay true to their faith but interpret it differently.

Ripping apart what people have believed in for their entire lives takes a lot of effort but giving them a way to have their beliefs and support yours might be easier to accmomplish. And please, if you're protesting or boycotting - do it in a kind, respectful and polite manner. You'll be more effective.

Heather: Thanks for your no vote. But could you kindly quit it with the "you peoples," "you gays," etc? It feels rather condescending. And as for earlier saying that you're regretting it because of the protests, consider it from our view. Our right to marry was granted; now it is denied. I had a fiance. Now I have a girlfriend. I never voted on anyone else's right to marry, and yet, the people of California voted to take away mine. You're damned right I'm angry. And if you were me, you'd be pretty pissed off too; pissed off to the point that we couldn't rightfully sit around twiddling our gay little thumbs, pretending we didn't just get bitch slapped by roughly half the state.

As one of the granddaughters of the owner of El Coyote and niece to the manager I feel it is important to express my view on Prop 8...I voted against it. It is unfortunate that the community has only connected Marjie to El Coyote because there are other relatives that are a part of the restaurant, like myself, that do not hold the same political views. Yes, Marjie is a major fixture in the Coyote, however there are other family members involved in the restaurant that do not share her views.

The Gay community has been preaching for years about tolerance. What I see is the most intolerant Vile, hateful things coming out of this community.

What is this for? Because of someone that is supportive of them but doesn't agree on this subject? It really weakens the NoH8te speech don't you think? Preach tolerance until someone doesn't agree with you. WHAT A BUNCH OF INTOLERANT HATEFUL PEOPLE! I for one will be boycotting anything Gay because of this hateful demonstration.