In the wake of an unofficial gay boycott and mounting pressure, gay and lesbian employees of Gethsemane Garden Center, 5739 N. Clark in Chicago, are rushing to defend their bosses this week against allegations that the business is homophobic.
"Regas ( the owner ) is very accepting of everybody who works here," said openly gay senior landscape designer David Gianneschi. "If ( the rumor ) was true, I would have my own issues."
The employees were responding to a recent media report that quoted someone identified as an owner allegedly turning down membership to the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce because gays are immoral.
Kathleen Tennison-Chefas, wife of sole owner Regas Chefas, spoke to the two Chamber representatives when they came in about three weeks ago. Of the comments attributed to her, she said, "I can tell you that is total fabrication."
Gay employees of the garden center said they have never heard either of the Chefas' say anything anti-gay, and they are finding themselves on the front lines of an all-out gay assault, with a steady stream of visits and phone calls by long-time customers angry over the comments. Employees estimated that up to one-third of all of the business's buyers are gay or lesbian.
Gianneschi, the landscape designer, has two gay clients "who've signed contracts who are going to pull their business," because of the incident.
Openly gay Gethsemane employee Jim Edminster, also a columnist for Windy City Times, said he has received calls at home from friends who wonder how he could work for such people.
"We were just amazed," Edminster said of the gay employees, who he and others said make up about one-third of the garden center's staff. "A horticulture business that's anti-gay? They'd go out of business."
Openly lesbian staffer Dawn Popelka, head of the center's outdoor statuary, has been with the company for about seven years and has gone overseas on buying trips with Regas Chefas.
While showing off the area of the center Chefas has set aside for her acquisitions she said, "As far as his being against gay people—that's never happened here. Ever."
She and others said the Chefas' don't make an issue of sexuality when they hire people, who are chosen "because they know about flowers," Edminster said.
In denying the allegations of homophobia, the garden center's management points to its 25-year track record.
"If it was that bigoted, surely it would've come out before now," said Sarah Goodwin, daughter of owner Regas Chefas. "They've ( gays ) have always felt comfortable shopping here."
She noted that two weeks before the incident, the garden center donated flowers to the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt Oscar Party benefit, and Tennison-Chefas said the center advertised in Windy City Times several years ago during the holiday season. NAMES Project Director Modesto Tico Valle confirmed that the flowers were donated, and said his partner also works at Gethsemane.
"I personally have two cousins who are gay who have died of AIDS," Tennison-Chefas said.
As for the Chamber of Commerce, its representatives say the incident has been blown out of proportion.
"It's an ugly thing that got uglier," said Lauryn Kushner, who along with Sue Johnson was one of the Chamber reps who visited Gethsemane.
Both women agree that they approached Tennison-Chefas about joining the Chamber and were "taken aback" by how quickly she declined.
Kushner said she pointed out that the gay community has been supportive of the business over the years, and she said that Tennison-Chefas responded by saying that her husband is a "fundamentalist Christian" who wouldn't allow the business to support the Chamber.
Johnson agrees with that description, saying Tennison-Chefas "was very nice to us" but very firm in her refusal.
"She was very aware of the gay community," Johnson said, adding that Tennison-Chefas agreed that the business had many gay employees and customers.
Johnson and Kushner said they then left, stunned by what they'd heard.
"That was kind of shocking since I know so many gays and lesbians who support that place," Johnson said.
But as for Tennison-Chefas calling gays immoral, etc., Johnson and Kushner say that never happened.
"In my opinion, what was said was inflammatory enough," Kushner said. "People can make up their own minds on the correct quote."
Johnson said that while she would never patronize Gethsemane based on what she heard, Tennison-Chefas doesn't deserve what's happening.
Tennison-Chefas remembers her interaction with the Chamber much differently, characterizing the women who visited her as being pushy and not willing to take "no" for an answer.
She said she did acknowledge the support the gay community has shown over the years, but pointed out that the business can't give its financial backing to every group of loyal customers.
The only reference to Christianity she remembers making is that she and her husband are Christians and are therefore accepting of everyone.
She and others said the name Gethsemane—taken from the Bible as the place where Jesus was arrested—has caused many to make assumptions about the owner's beliefs. The business was founded by Regas Chefas' father about 25 years ago.
"Years ago there was a rumor in the neighborhood that we were a religious cult," Tennison-Chefas said.
As it stands, the business is trying to maintain its reputation in the gay community as a good—and supportive—place to shop and work.
"I would not have worked here," if it wasn't, openly gay staffer Popelka said.
