Sydney plant-based cafe Hale & Hearty, and its owner Mark Da Costa have come under fire for a slew of weird pro-Trump social media posts over the weekend.
The Waterloo establishment took to Facebook to declare themselves a “Donald Trump safe zone.” No, this doesn’t mean they’re out to protect the plethora of people who are significantly worse off under the Trump regime. Nope. Hale & Hearty is proudly a place for Trump supporters to eat some pancakes and talk about their political views.
But it’s not just his opinions on US politics that landed Da Costa and his establishment in hot water. The posts prompted former customers to come forward with accusations of homophobia, racism and bigotry from the owner.
A quick Twitter search shows a number of screenshots, allegedly taken from the H&H Facebook page, which show a slew of derogatory and offensive language towards customers.
https://twitter.com/macleanbrendan/status/1322344025790193664
In addition to supporting Trump, the account (presumably run by Da Costa) has used homophobic, ableist, transphobic and slut-shaming language when talking to customers.
https://twitter.com/JessLarum/status/1322315572386832384
Da Costa even went so far as to tell the Daily Telegraph that the “left-wing fake vegan community” are trying to ruin his business, which is just a really weird energy to have as the owner of a vegan cafe.
Following backlash over the weekend, he issued an apology, remaining firm that the business is a “Trump safe zone,” but saying sorry for his abusive comments.
“I will remain a Trump supporter, and I am a Pauline Hanson supporter,” he said in his apology.
But the apology truly doesn’t mean much when Da Costa has continued to share wild posts about being a “straight safe zone,” even after being called out for his unkind words.
As a heterosexual person, I can confirm that we do not need safe zones. Marginalised groups who are otherwise not safe from this sort of hatred and mistreatment need safe zones, but nobody is trying to bully, harass or threaten heterosexual people based on their sexuality. That is just not a thing.
But if all of that wasn’t enough, they’re also hosting a “MAGA Night” on Wednesday night after the US election, which presumably will be pretty disappointing considering almost all of the polls suggest a Biden/Harris victory.
When asked if he had anything to say to the LGBTQIA+ community, Mark Da Cost saida (and I quote): “The pancakes are only $10 tonight and every Monday night at the Hale & Hearty.”
