BIG Kiss for Sainsbury-London After A Gay Couple asked to Leave
A gay couple left “humiliated” after being told to stop holding hands in Sainsbury's have inspired protesters to stage a peaceful "kiss-in" at a north London branch of the supermarket giant.
Thomas Rees and his boyfriend Josh were shopping after work at a Sainsbury’s store in Hackney, London, on August 8, when a security guard called them over.
He asked them to follow him outside and explained that a female shopper had complained they were touching and behaving inappropriately.
Later, they were offered a £10 gift card as compensation, but the gesture wasn't enough to lay the incident to rest.
Couples - mostly same-sex - now plan to fill the aisles of the supermarket and embrace in support of the pair.
Campaigner Michael Segalov has organized a "big gay kiss in" on Facebook, which encourages LGBT people to gather at the branch where the "inappropriate hand holding" took place. Writing on Facebook, he said: “In a year that’s seen attacks all too often on the LGBT community, it’s high time that Sainsbury’s – with profits over £500 million this year – put their money where their mouths are and use their resources to ensure that homophobia becomes a thing of the past. A £10 voucher just doesn’t cut it.
“Come down to Sainsbury’s at 7pm this Saturday: hold hands, pucker up, and tell Sainsbury’s enough is enough.” Sainsbury's has come under fire before for staff treatment of LGBT people. In October 2014, a lesbian couple complained after a security guard at a branch in Brighton reportedly told the couple that another customer found them “disgusting” when one pecked the other on the cheek, and asked them to leave if they continued to show affection.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury's said: "We sincerely apologise to Thomas and Josh.
"We are an inclusive retailer and employer and do not tolerate discrimination in our stores.
“We will take appropriate action once we've concluded our investigation with our security contractor."
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