US bar declares June ‘Heterosexual Awareness Month’ with free beers for straight men
The bar has declared June ‘Heterosexual Awareness Month’. (Stock photograph via Elements Envato)
A bar in Idaho is reportedly offering free beers for straight men as part of a jab against LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
The Old State Saloon bar in Eagle, Idaho, announced that it would be giving straight, cisgender men free beers every Monday of June in a “heterosexual Awesomeness Month” promotion that just so happens to coincide with Pride Month in the US.
The bar, which hosts a conspiracy theory trivia night and a “Christian Singles Mingle” event, announced the promotion in a post on Facebook in which it wrote that, without heterosexual men, “none of us would be here.”
“Each Monday will be Hetero Male Monday and any heterosexual male dressed like a heterosexual male will receive a free draft beer,” it writes.
The offer does not appear to be available for heterosexual women. However, a “Heterosexual Couples Day” promotion is on offer each Wednesday of June in which each “heterosexual couple” would receive a 15 per cent discount.
It’s not the only promotion Old State Saloon offers over June, with an “open carry coffee” promotion rewarding patrons bringing firearms into their establishment with a second coffee on Saturdays.
Following the almost immediate and expected backlash to the promotion, the bar’s owner, Mark Fitzpatrick, said he loves “all types of people, including the LGBTQ+ crowd.”
“I sincerely wish they all knew Jesus as their saviour,” he wrote. “Let’s commence Heterosexual Awesomeness Month.”
The Idaho bar, which accepts cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, then shared a subsequent statement on the “significant backlash” it had received over the promotion.
“Theft of our property, vendors refusing to fulfil our orders for ingredients, wedding catering cancellation, libel, slander,” it wrote. “Even the owner being falsely accused of being a sex offender.”
It then thanked its patrons, which it described as “rational and reasonable” for supporting the promotion, which it claimed was about “freedom” and being “true to our personal values.”
The Saloon owner’s “personal values” include hosting a right-wing podcast, Braveritas, which has three subscribers at the time of reporting.
The podcast has previously hosted flat earth conspiracy theorist Austin Whitsitt in a discussion about “NASA lies and flat earth 101.”
It has also hosted Dr Judy Mikovits who is most notable for making discredited medical claims and pushing COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
