Queer Liberation Front Teach-In at Javapalooza Sunday

The Queer Liberation Front will hold a teach-in Sunday at noon after a reported incident in which Neil Dinerman,  the owner of the Main Street coffeeshop, Javapalooza, allegedly physically ejected a patron from the shop using derisive anti-homosexual insults in the process.  The young man who alleges the abuse has asked for anonymity.

"I didn't put a hand on anyone," Dinerman said Saturday.  "I got angry, and I lost my temper, and I said things I shouldn't have."

Dinerman explained that the young man entered the store with a coffee from another shop, a national chain.  Driscoll confirms that detail.

"I'm trying to run a business here, on a paper thin margin, so when someone comes in with a coffee from another place, it's like waving a red flag in front of a bull," Dinerman said.  "I asked him to leave and he and his friends laughed at me.

Dinerman admits to using obscenities, but said that his choice of insult was not determined by any perception of the young man's sexual orientation.

"I said things I shouldn't have," Dinerman said, indicating that his choice of curse words which may be considered anti-homosexual was inadvertent.

"I was chose those other words, and they were completely inappropriate," Dinerman said.

According to Melanie Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Queer Liberation Front, the group is meeting with Dinerman Saturday to ask for an apology and to inform him that they are planning to hold a teach-in at his shop on Sunday.  Driscoll and others plan to meet with Dinerman Saturday to discuss their plans for the teach-in.  Dinerman confirmed the meeting.

"I apologize for getting angry and using those words," Dinerman said.  "I have no prejudice against anyone because of their sexual orientation.  Of course I respect them, but I'd ask them, in return, to respect a struggling business owner trying to make a go of it when profits are slim."

Driscoll expects the teach-in to draw a crowd.  As of this posting,  Facebook site reports 191 individuals planning to attend the teach-in.

"As paying patrons we are allowed to," Driscoll said.  "And we plan to do it whether he (Dinerman) allows it or not."

"I don't plan on preventing the meeting," Dinerman said.  "I think it could be helpful.  And, I'll take the business.  We could use it."

According to a Queer Liberation Front press release:


On Sunday, January 30^th, 2011, at 12 PM, Queer Liberation Front and allies are organizing a peaceful “Know Your Rights!” teach-in at Javapalooza in Middletown to demand from Mr. Dinerman a public apology, show of goodwill toward the queer community, and allowance to conduct our teach-in without interference.


According to Driscoll, the young man who alleged the assault, and his parents reported complaints to  "the mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, the police, the head of Consumer Protection, and the CT Commission of Human Rights and Opportunities."  Driscoll said that none of these groups provided assistance. 

"Did I use foul language? Yes," Dinerman said.  "Do I apologize.  Yes, or course.  But I don't apologize for throwing someone out who brings a competitor's coffee in here."