Baylor University tells Starbucks to get rid of cup with gay-related quote

The Waco, Texas school had cups with a quote from gay novelist Armistead Maupin pulled after a faculty member complained. The Baylor Dining Services manager says the university agreed to get rid of the cups out of respect for "Baylor culture." She says: "There are different view points on the Baylor campus. We pulled the cup to be sensitive to viewpoints." Have a comment for Bayor? Here's contact info for the PR office. (Baylor Lariat)

Comments

[Emma Morrow]

Thank YOU Baylor University for being proactive in knocking down people just trying to make controversy. You should be applauded.

Hello?! Is anyone really surprised?! It's BAYLOR for cryin' out loud! Hard to believe a leading, very tight-laced, Christian college would pull something a GAY quote on it?! Must be a slow news day...

[cincimike]

I am not offended by a quote from a gay person; what offends me is the sub-culture that glorifies pretenious people obsessed with over-priced coffee and a company that tries to "foo-foo" words into the common vernacular like "venti" and "barista". I'll take the company of gay people any day.

Yes, Emma. Heaven forbid that anyone in a University setting be exposed to new and different thoughts and ideas. The world is now a safer place thanks to the elimination of a cup with text on it.

[Amigajoe]

So WHAT was the freakin' quote!?

"Thank YOU Baylor University for being proactive in knocking down people just trying to make controversy."

-So acknowledging the existence of gays is a controversy? wow.

[Summer Mayes]

I'm from Waco, and I have to say-this is very typical of Baylor. Ironic, considering the majority of Baylor students are gay! Their slogan since the 70s has been "Baylor University-Where the girls are girls, and the guys are too!"
This is yet another example of their "Holier-Than-Thou" attitude. I have yet to meet anyone in this area who actually respects Baylor or its students. I'm not talking about Alumni, either!;)
If you can make money off of them, then you are a true supporter of Baylor University. But only then.

[Winter]

Starbucks should revoke their license to operate that location.

[Brandy]

The quote was "My only regret about being gay is that I suppressed it for so long."

[Brandy]

Sorry - for some reason the whole thing didn't post. Here it is:

"My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short."

How dare he suggest you should be who you are! ; }

[dyn]

well, see there is the entire problem, college is not a time for self discovery or learning about people who may be different than those you have grown up with. no no no what do you people want?? A society full of acceptance and free thinkers?

Sheep! we need more sheep!

[an american]

Here's a modest proposal: I think Starbucks should ban all coffee sales to gay people. Delivering caffeine to gay people helps them stay awake, and you know what happens then. Every time a gay person buys coffee at Starbucks another thread in the moral fibre of this great heterosexual nation frays and snaps!

[Amy Alkon, godless harlot]

"My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short."

What's sick is anybody who has a problem with a quote like this. Not exactly rounding up the troops to get out in buttless leather pants, now is he? (Not that I have a problem with that.)

Oddly enough, he actually sounds a lot more Jesus-like with that quote than a whole lot of the bible-thwackers.

[Senor Presidente]

Homosexuals will burn in Hell forever! Support our troops! Yee-Hawww!

[bro]

hey i think da mess on da starbucks cup is da bomb
wats wrong with gay people?
stop being homophobic
thank u
lv bro

[Lesbian In the South]

I think it's so hypocritical to pull one's viewpoint off the shelf and honor another's. Do you honestly think that pulling those cups off the shelf will stop someone from proclaiming who they really are? Or maybe you think if you leave the quote out there, it may make someone who is obviously straight turn gay? I have to laugh at these simple-minded people. ONE DAY WE WILL HAVE RIGHTS!!!

WTF???

[Dave]

Baylor, as a private university and the largest BAPTIST university in the world, has every right to censure things like this. I don't agree with them, but the fact is they have the right to do so.

[jeff]

So does Baylor allow the use of Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and Willa Cather in its lit and drama classes? They were all gay.

Dave, I don't recall anyone here writing that Baylor doesn't have the right to do that. What's the relevance of your point, within the context of our discussion here?

[mickfrank]

Thank you for pulling the cup from Starbucks. Its one thing to sneak out of the closet, but having to read about them over my cup of coffee is appauling

What, exactly, is APPALLING about reading a quote that is basically a re-phrasing of "to thine own self be true"? Frankly, if mere words on a cup send you into a censorship-advocating frenzy, then might I suggest there are other aspects of your life in need of serious examination?

[Jess]

does anyone know the espresso limit customers can order per beverage? i heard it was 8 per beverage, but i wanted to make sure that was correct. occasionally people come in and order grande or venti cups filled all the way to the top with espresso. I think that is against starbucks policy to serve that because it can cause heart failure, and lawsuits. Does anyone know what the limit is?
My second question is, does anyone know what you do when someone orders a grande latte with only one shot? i thought you always go by the size, not shots cuz it is more milk than a tall. but a customer flipped out on me one time when she orderd a single grande latte, and i charged her for a grande latte. What is the correct way to ring that up?

[Unknown]

1)I was surprised when a customer ordered a 6-shot Latte. And I asked a partner if we could do that. I don't know what the limit is.

2)I think as a "Tall Latte". because Tall-sized lattes only come with one shot...but yeah...I've wondered what the "correct" charge for it is too...

3)Let's try to stay on topic with this thread..

milk costs as much as the espresso it should be a tall latte with add dairy or grande latte. The prices end up being about the same.

[vislandcub]

it's really amusing that baylor is so anal retentive that they couldn't deal with a paper cup.

[noareyou]

I wonder what happened to the cups. Did they get redirected, to be more widely circulated at another Starbucks (possibly defeating the point)? Or did Baylor burn them, book-style?

Bet those cups become collector's items.

[Shawn]

Is there any subtle way to find the fact that I'm reading this while listening to old "New Order" tune "True Faith"... ah, hell with it. Dance with me!

[dave]

I love that song!!! And now that you mentioned it, I'm going to put the CD in! :)

[walter10021]

I love Starbucks Gossip!

[spinachdip]

homophobia is so gay

[Eiko]

Um... Starbucks is pretty clear that they are a gay friendly environment- but it's not IN YOUR FACE. This is not news. Look at the Domestic Partnership benefits given to homosexuals.

I'd like everyone who was offended by the cup to list every gay person who ever HURT them- because obviously they're doing more than parading around in Dolci Gabana singing showtunes to get this type of hatred.

It's Dolce and Gabbana, by the way.
They hate gays because they aren't conforming to their own idea of perfection, i.e: themselves. These hypocrites are hurt simply by the fact that gays exist.
I find it curious and more than a little disturbing that these "Christians" feel it necessary to stifle and discredit anything that doesn't agree with their narrow-minded and judgemental views. Is your faith so shaky that it can't take even the slightest challenge?
The Domestic Partner benefits are just another reason I am proud of my company.

[melina1]

I do not work at Starbucks, but I used to work in retail for 13 years. And when we received merch that had "random quote"-type items, embroidered pillows, for example, they came exactly that way, randomly.

Baristas: do your cups come in boxes/wrappers "by quote"? I wouldn't think so. That'd be a lot of extra work in the whole printing/distribution arena.

So, I ask: how IS Baylor going to ban this particular quoted cup? By what means/methods? If it appears, will theyimmediately begin to: a) pray over it, b) smash it and throw it away, c) burn it, d) mark it out with a sharpie and write a more suitable quote, e) all of the above?

Armistead Maupin's writing allowed me, as a young woman, to see another viewpoint/lifestyle that I was not exposed to on a daily basis and I'm a more diverse human because of that. I guess Baylor can do whatever they want to, but I am thinking diversity isn't included in their mission statement...

[sneezeldorf]

being politcal corret is getting prety damm old. i am getting pissed off about a minority of one or two peaple contolling the thoughts of the masses. don't read the cup you have the freedom, and stop telling us what we can read,say,watch and lisen to.

I commend Baylor for doing just what they did, stand up for what they say they believe and who they are. It is not that they do not like the homosexual people themselves. It is their lifestyle that goes against what they believe to be right.

[Thinksdifferent]

Don't like the quote? Don't read it. You could even go as far as slipping the cardboard sleeve up over it so you don't have to read it. Don't rain on someone's parade if they don't rain on yours. God how I would love to see a pride march right through the Baylor campus. I wonder how they'd deal with that.....

[jojo]

How about just getting the stupid quotes off of the cups alltogether? What the hell are they trying to say with quotes on cups anyway? Starbucks, where you'll always find the latest attempt to "connect" with their target audience, which is whatever audience is dumb enough to pay over $3 for a 50 cent cup of coffee. The throngs of people that are attracted to a marketing ploy like starbucks amazes me. They could actually get rid of the sludge from New Orleans by putting it in a starbucks cup and selling it for $5 and calling it something like "Katrina Blend"...the starbucks yuppies would buy it up and solve the cleanup problem and pay to rebuild the city all at once.

[javajockey]

JoJo, your comment is beyond insensitive and uninformed. For example:
Coffee at Sbux, for a small cup, is a buck sixty. A hand made latte, however, is more, and is worth it to those with the taste to appreciate it. Not you.
To insinuate that we would capitalize on a disaster that killed hundreds of innocent people is breathtaking in its gall. You should be ashamed of yourself. As for our coffee being compared to the murky water that cost many people their lives and homes, see above.

[canadianbarista]

I've been following the story of this quote cup for a little while and just noticed that I haven't actually come across one. Why? Well, because the quotes are random and odds are quite low that I will fall upon this one. And also, because who the hell reads the quotes on the cups? I certainly don't, because mostly when I grab a cup I am concentrating on the drink I'm making. And the customers certainly don't either, since there is a nice big sleeve covering the entire thing up. What's the point?

" It is not that they do not like the homosexual people themselves. It is their lifestyle that goes against what they believe to be right."

Yeah. Just like it isn't that I do not like the Christian people themselves. Just their lifestyle, when they start doing that praying and worshipping and Bible-reading stuff.

[christhelibrarian]

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all"
-Noam Chomsky
So, I guess the 1st Amendment is not applicable in a private business on (or near?) the Baylor Campus. It may be legal, but it's un-American.

[Afid]

"I'll take the company of gay people any day."

Hey, we'll be more than happy to invite you over for a cup of coffee! Except the stuff we make isn't overpriced and doesn't taste burnt!

[Ivan Berger]

Just which "gay lifestyle" are people objecting to? There seems to be as much variation there as there is among us straights, save for loving and having sex with people whose genital match rather than compliment one's own. I have known busily prosmiscuous gays (and straights), long-time couples gay and straight, gays in the arts (of course), button-down gay businesmen, gay techies...and probably a lot of people who I simply did not know were gay.

Sex aside, the only parts of a (not "the") gay lifestyle I could see people objecting to are the in-your-face flamboyance (which I suspect is largely defiance at rejection) and the sometimes frantic promiscuity. But I bet the people who complain most about the latter are the ones who object the most against gay marriage.

Oh well, the coffee is cheaper--and better--at Dunkin' Donuts.

[Sam]

I'm a Baylor student, and let me tell you what I can see from this first-hand. We are a Baptist college. Allowing anything that goes against the Baptist covenant and beliefs will not be allowed on campus. Basically, anything that is seen as immoral will be kept out, the same way that many non-Christians (including gay people) try to keep immorality out of their lives.

Homosexuality is definitely immoral according to the Bible, the backbone of the Baptist belief. Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed in the Old Testament because of the extreme of their sin. Homosexuality was the major one. Men even tried to have sex with the angels who came to see if the cities really were as bad as they had heard.

We don't mind the being yourself part about the quote. What we didn't like was the writer saying they had deliberately gone against God and did not regret it.

We will not stand for what we believe is against the will of God. Forcing you to agree with our beliefs would be COMPLETELY AGAINST the Bible. We will not try to force you to conform to our standards, and please don't try and force us to conform with yours. Through Christ, we just want the bonds of sin holding the world down to be completely dissolved. Did you ever realize that you are a slave to sin? Try going one day without doing something wrong, and you will find out. The Truth can set you free.

[Tammie]

Family friendly... NOT Starbucks - my child's hot chocolate is now served in a cup with profanity and a social agenda....greaaaat.. I thought their revenue came from 4Buck drinks...well, not my 4bucks anymore....

[Dave]

Did anyone read these last two posts,,, last time I checked wasn't it christians that killed off thousands of South American Indians when thet brought christianity to the new world, imposed the Inquisition killing thousands, and wasn't it American Christians that burned and hanged normal people as witches in Salem Mass. hmmmm food for thought...

[Sandy]

I find it intriguing that y'all (yes, I'm from Texas and no, I do not and did not attend Baylor) assume the cup was pulled for it's homosexual reference. Isn't it just possible that the powers that be at this Christian university were offended by the word "damn"?

[Sam]

Dave, I am a Christian, and I certainly don't approve of everything the crazy radical Christians of ancient days did, like killing supposed witches. There actions were clearly not biblically based. The Bible declares God as the ultimate judge, and any Christians choosing to judge for themselves clearly go against what God's word says. Not only that, but murder is one of the things prohibited in the Ten Commandments! In short, they were wrong. Christianity of ancient days CANNOT be used to represent the Christians of today's world, just like you cannot condemn every white person in the US because their ancestors had slaves. Why would anyone stand behind what their ancestors did if it was clearly wrong? I promise, we know that we shouldn't murder anyone, much less innocent people.

[Sam]

Great point, Sandy.