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| Dave Claringbould courtesy Morris Mirror |
Pots N Hands Closes in the Midst
of Mennonite Homophobia and Mennonite Silence
edited 02:00 am, 03 April, 2013, certain material excluded
edited 02:00 am, 03 April, 2013, certain material excluded
The closure of gay-owned restaurant Pots N
Hands in Morris, Manitoba, brings to light the difficulties and potential discrimination
often faced by adult gays and lesbians in strongly traditional Mennonite and
Hutterite-influenced communities.
Morris, Manitoba, is located between the two
historic Mennonite and Hutterite Reserves in southern Manitoba. Often referred to as the buckle of Manitoba’s
Bible Belt, Morris is about 12% faith Mennonite in town and heavily dominated
outside of town by ethnic Anabaptist farms, communities and corporate communities.
Steinbach, Manitoba, located some 30 miles
to the northeast, has recently made national headlines in its fight against
Manitoba’s proposed anti-bullying legislation, referred to as Bill-18. Mennonite politicians from Steinbach’s Sue
Penner to Canada’s Vic Toews have weighed in against the bill stating that it threatens
the religious freedom and independence of Manitoba’s Mennonite community and
that it is in fact, unnecessary.
Chef Dave Claringbould and his partner,
Matt Rietze, recently of Morris, might beg to differ.
After being open since only December, 2012,
Claringbould and Rietze have notified the community that they are closing Pots
N Hands due to the town's demonstrated bigotry and constant anti-gay
insults.
Arguably, Claringbould and Rietze knew what
they were getting into. Claringould is a
trained chef with fourteen years of experience, having received his degree from
the Culinary Institute of Canada in Prince Edward Island and working in
kitchens in New Brunswick, British Columbia and Manitoba. In 2010, Claringbould and Rietze moved to the
small prairie town of Morris where Claringbould taught cooking lessons.
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| Pots N Hands, Morris, MB, courtesy (c) Phil Hossack, Winnipeg Free Press |
In 2012, the duo took over the former Charlotte’s location and opened Pots N Hands, which has received several positive reviews on tourist websites in its very, very short history, and general support from the local publication, The Morris Mirror.
But the owners of Pots N Hands apparently
failed to fully appreciate the apparently generalized homophobia of local town
residents who are often slow to take to new comers as a rule, and even more
difficult to win over if those newbies happen to be different (for instance,
openly gay!).
Claringbould and Reitz are not the first
gourmets to face difficulties in finding acceptance in rural settings. In January, Paul Maden and James Findlay of
Scotland closed their internationally regarded gourmet chocolate company, Coca
Mountain, after facing increasing anti-gay hostility from their neighbors in
the rural village of Durness in Sutherland.
According to the Daily Mail, the couple had put up with abuse from many
locals, including father-and-son team John and Malcolm Morrison, for a decade
and were finally calling it quits.
The Pots N Hands will have lasted less than
six months – and in this case, the closure is due not to redneck rural Scots,
but rather to rather openly homophobic persons of Mennonite and Hutterite
heritage.
“Surely the problem extends beyond the Mennonite
and Hutterite populations,” one might respond.
“After all, Morris is only 12% Mennonite.”
Not at all.
The 12% calculation is based on the attendance of Mennonite-identified
congregations, representing perhaps only a quarter of the actual Mennonite and Hutterite cultural
heritage in Morris.
Even at only a quarter of the Morris town
population, the Mennonites of Morris represent a strong voting block and are
effective shapers of public opinion on these prairies – enough that is to be
seen as quietly, even silently, siding with the vocal homophobes against the
gay business owners. Culturally, we must
man up and take ownership of the closing of Pots N Hands.
As for the restaurant, travel reviews indicate a strong liking of
Claringbould’s Yorkshire puddings and creatively loaded baked potatoes.
Natives are less sure.
The Winnipeg
Free Press quotes Aaron Kleinsasser, "They should get the hell out of here. I don't really like them -- the
service and who they are. … I agree
(they should leave). It makes you feel uncomfortable. I've been in there twice,
I believe, and I regret it. I'm never going to go back there again."
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| Henry and Esther Sawatzky, courtesy Winnipeg Free Press, (c) Phil Hossack |
The same article quotes Henry and Esther
Sawatzky, “I don’t think that I like that
[the owners are gay]. And the food isn’t
good.”
Bothersomely, these are the same examples of
drive-by homophobia encountered by Coca Mountain in Scotland and
recently caught on tape by CBC-Canada while interviewing gay students at the public
high school in Steinbach regarding public protests against Bill 18 just last month.
The Free
Press’ Mike McIntyre quotes gay outreach spokesperson Horst Backe who
connects attitudes in rural areas against gays, especially in rural southern
Manitoba, to the antibullying measures. He notes that the timing of Pots N Hands' closure has occurred during
the controversial debate regarding Bill 18.
In Backe’s perspective, “These are
adults here who are being bullied. It
really underscores the need to protect children.” McIntyre further quotes Backe as stating that
these examples of homophobia are not merely “the product of a small-town
environment.” According to Backe, “You don't have to be accepting. You just
have to be tolerant," he said. "I think you will find tolerance and
acceptance, and intolerant and hateful people everywhere.”
Morris Mayor Gavin van der Linde, who like Kleinsasser and the Sawatzkys, is also of presumed Anabaptist heritage, hedges about
the situation more carefully. In a
somewhat self-contradictory statement, van der Linde claims to be surprised but then
admits that he was in fact aware of the situation, “I was surprised, I hadn’t heard anything about any comments before that
[a couple of weeks ago]. Everyone I
heard from loved the food. It was an
extremely positive response … The issue was raised at a town council meeting
last month and everyone responded by going to the restaurant for lunch.” (McIntyre).
Van
der Linde also indicates that he heard
about the situation from others, having had to approach the couple
personally to
confirm the situation. The mayor admits his dismay at the expressed
anti-gay sentiments and has stated a hope that Claringbould and Rietze
might yet reconsider and give their business more time to establish the
necessary foothold for long-term success.
Should Pots N Hands close or move to another city, the loss would not be Claringbould’s and Rietze’s, however, it would be ours. Instead of seeing hopeful signs of diversity
and increasing social maturity in a heavily Mennonite-impacted community, we would
instead see signs of the same issues of yesteryear regarding anti-Inglisher,
anti-Native American, anti-non-Mennonite, or anti-whomever, dressed up in its
latest guise of homophobia. It is still
the same old, such a very old, story.
Regrettably, I would have really enjoyed a
nice place to stop by after visiting church in Steinbach on my way back to the
States. The truck stop is fine for a
sandwich and a soda – but I could really have gone for some loaded baked
potatoes.
for further reading ...
CBC: Anti-gay slurs push restauranteers from Small Manitoba Town
added 10:20 am 03 April 2013:
Chris Purdy, Winnipeg Free Press, Gay Couple Gets Lots of Support, Still Closing Eatery after Insults
added 18:40 pm 04 April 2013:
Winnipeg Free Press, "Wrong to Blame Town: Mayor"
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