Nikki Haley, current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former anti-same-sex marriage governor of South Carolina, was apparently booed while leaving an NYC restaurant in the middle of the Gay Pride Parade on Sunday. Haley, who in June 2010 declared that "marriage is between one man and one woman," seems upset about the incident:
We,incl my son, were booed by patrons saying hateful things as we left lunch @ Pride Parade.Our country is better than this. #HateNeverWins
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) June 25, 2017
Haley's record on LGBTQ rights has been spotty, at best. Though as U.N. Ambassador she has spoken out about the violent persecution and murder of gay people in Chechnya, in addition to declaring that marriage should be for heterosexual couples, in November 2013, she opposed a federal lawsuit challenging a ban on gay marriage in South Carolina's state constitution. And as Twitter commentariat pointed out over the weekend, she is part of a presidential administration that has threatened to overturn protections for LGBTQ Americans:
You're a standard-bearer for a party whose platform dismisses our marriages and denigrates our families. Why should we *not* boo you?
— Trey Graham (@treygraham) June 26, 2017
Oh Nikki, you're in the most hateful & excluding administration this country has every seen. It's flimsy to expect cheers instead of boos.
— Fred Sablan (@Fredsablan) June 26, 2017
Well, @nikkihaley opposes trans protections, tried to oppose SSMs from other states, and now works for Trump. So yeah, she was booed.
— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) June 26, 2017
Haley didn't say which restaurant she and her son were dining at when the alleged heckles occurred, but she posted a photo to Instagram of her and some folks in the West Village as they "took on" the Pride Parade. As you can see from the comments, that adversarial language didn't exactly endear her to the LGBTQ population celebrating Pride:
Meanwhile, a fellow diner says Haley's reaction is overblown:
NIkki- I was there at that restaurant. We treated you with respect. You should not malign the #LGBT community by the actions of a few.
— Jamie Harris (@jamieharrisnyc) June 26, 2017
We reached out to Harris for additional comment and will update if we hear back.