Louisiana Farmer Rebounding After Backlash to Social Media Post About Pride Month
A Louisiana small farm owner says his supporters far outnumber the business customers he lost after he post a message on social media that referred to Pride Month as the “attempted coup of the month.”
“I’m not saying we’re going to win the culture war. But it’s very clear we are not outnumbered—at least, not yet,” said Ross McKnight, owner of Backwater Foie Gras in Bush, Louisiana.
In the June 2 Instagram post, McKnight wrote, “The push to have every mainstream value and holiday represented in some way in our Louisiana ought to make no sense at all to any [native Louisiana resident] unless recognized as a forward offensive by an ever-encroaching enemy that has sought for generations to destroy our unique culture which is so intimately tied to our Catholic identity.”
The “attempted coup” in June is “part of that offensive.”
As a devout Catholic, McKnight said he is protective of his home state of Louisiana, its culture, and its Catholic identity.
“It’s the faith of Catholic France and the French Catholic monarchy, and of course, the Spanish influence,” McKnight said.
McKnight said two of his three important restaurant customers texted him after his post saying they would no longer buy his foie gras products.
“One [chef] used the term homophobia, the silliest term ever. Because we’re not afraid [of the LGBTQ+ movement],” McKnight told The Epoch Times.
McNight, 32, started the family farm making foie gras products in April 2019.
To lose two-thirds of his customers was potentially devastating, but financial contributions began pouring in almost immediately.
One GiveSendGo page raised $101,360 for the McKnights.
“My local community was first to respond by buying our products to help get us through. We were not alone,” McKnight said.
Culture Wars
The backlash against McKnight does not appear to be an isolated incident but reflects a growing division between conservative Christians in the United States and those who support the LGBTQ+ agenda.
McKnight sees it as a religious and ideological schism that is beyond rational discussion or compromise, and a direct assault on his faith.
On June 16, thousands of Catholics protested the drag nun group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on “Pride Night” outside Dodgers’ Stadium in Los Angeles.
In a January interview with The Associated Press, Pope Francis encouraged all Catholics not to discriminate against homosexuality, saying that it “is not a crime.”
“We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity. Being homosexual is not a crime,” the Pope told the news outlet, and then clarified, “but it is a sin.”
“When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin.
“Of course, one must also consider the circumstances, which may decrease or eliminate fault,” he added.
McKnight said the backlash to his post stems partly from what he sees as a leftward political demographic transformation of Louisiana’s large metropolitan areas, such as New Orleans.
“What I see happening, especially from New Orleans, is that many who live there are now transplants. It’s become an Americanized city,” he said. “There’s still the influence of culture there.”
And while many new residents from outside the state think Louisiana is “a cool place to live,” they bring their leftist and liberal ideals “that are not ours,” McKnight said.
McKnight’s Catholic roots in Louisiana go back nearly 200 years, from French immigrants who first arrived during the 1860s. The Sacred Heart of his Catholic faith symbolizes the love of Christ in contrast to the “love is love” notion of the LGBTQ+ movement, he said.
Those who promote LGBTQ+ ideals resort to rage, anger, and the use force on anyone who opposes them, McKnight said, “which is what happened in my case.”
“If we say love is love, that makes no sense. It’s an infinite regress. It’s pure desire. If you can love anything, you can begin to love evil.”
Pedophilia could eventually be normalized if the trends pushing Pride month continue without people voicing their different views, he said. “There is no end to it.”
Support Within Community
McKnight said response from his community to his family’s ordeal has been positive and beyond their expectations. Two new Catholic chefs recently stepped forward, offering to buy the McKnight’s foie gras, a French specialty food made of the liver of a duck or goose.
“People have been aching themselves just to put up a fight,” McKnight said. “By supporting us, they’re contributing to us. They know it’s a pitched battle; the sides are clear.”
McKnight said he stands by his comments on social media, with “no regret whatsoever.”
“Our business will survive if that is God’s will. We will work hard to return to what we were doing and continue with new customers,” he said.
“We’re not afraid. We can only be faithful.”
