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BU Starbucks pulls cups due to homosexual quote

Sept. 7, 2005

by ANALIZ GONZALEZ, staff writer

Baylor Dining Services oversees two coffee shops. One of them has a scriptural reference in its title. The other was recently asked to remove a series of cups that some would argue "promote homosexuality."

Jessie Solomon/Lariat staff Amanda Alley, a Littleton, Colo., sophomore studies on Tuesday at the campus Starbucks that pulled 500 coffee cups featuring controversial quotes after a faculty member said they were offensive.

Late last week, the Baylor Starbucks pulled about 500 cups with a quote by gay author Armistead Maupin after a faculty member complained.

Maupin's quote explains that the only regret he had about being gay is that he held it in for a long time. He said, on the cup, that he gave up the freedom of his youth because he was afraid of revealing himself. He encourages others to not make the same mistake.

Starbucks manager Michael Boswell estimated that somewhere between 25 to 50 cups were distributed before the complaint was made.

Maupin is best known for his best-selling novel, The Night Listener, and his newspaper series, Tales of the City.

The series portray the homosexual community in San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s. The series is available at the Moody Library.

Linda Ricks, Marketing Program Manager of Baylor Dining Services, said Baylor Dining Services agreed to get rid of the cups out of respect for "Baylor culture."

"There are different view points on the Baylor campus," Ricks said. "We pulled the cup to be sensitive to view points."

Ricks said Starbucks's headquarters supported the cup removal.

"They aren't intending to generate conflict at all," Ricks said. "Starbucks fully supported our decision because they understand our environment."

The quote by Armistead Maupin is one of a number of different quotes printed in Starbucks coffee cups around the nation. The quotes are part of a program called "The Way I See It" and according to a Starbucks Web site, are meant to "promote good, healthy discussion."

Discussion has been promoted, and not just in Baylor. On August 10, Meghan Kleppinger, assistant to the national field director at Concerned Women for America, wrote a column about Starbucks support of gay lifestyles and her decision to boycott.

Articles on the Starbucks cups have been published in the Baptist Press, the Seattle Times and the KRT wire among others.

For more information on Starbuck's "The Way I See It" program, visit www.starbucks.com/wayIseeit.

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