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Published: February 25, 2009

“Obscene Valentine's Day cards in the mail”

Family-owned ice cream shop in Sacramento targeted by backers of same-sex marriage

A family-owned ice cream shop and restaurant in Sacramento that has been in business for 27 years is struggling to survive – but not just because of the current economic downturn. Leatherby’s Family Creamery on Arden Way has been targeted by proponents of same-sex marriage because the Catholic family that owns it contributed to the Yes on 8 campaign at the request of their bishop.

Members of the Leatherby family gave $20,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign, the successful constitutional amendment passed by voters in November 2008 that bans same-sex marriages in California. Alan Leatherby, 46, a Catholic father of six who has been married to Patty Leatherby for 22 years, told the Sacramento Bee he and other family members decided to make the contribution after being contacted by Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto, who asked for his support.

"We didn't hesitate because the institution of marriage between a man and a woman is something we believe in," Leatherby told the Bee.

But when the Leatherby family’s support of Proposition 8 became a matter of public record, the business was targeted by same-sex marriage supporters. “They've been picketed, employees wearing company sweat shirts have been harassed, angry callers have phoned their creamery at all hours of the day,” the Bee reported. “Hundreds of angry e-mails have come in. Bloggers have targeted their business. Last week, Alan Leatherby received obscene Valentine's Day cards in the mail.”

Leatherby told the newspaper, “There is no way we could have prepared for the kind of reaction we got… Business is actually down and that worries me. Can a business sustain that kind of negativity in the long-term? God only knows."

Shortly after the November election, business at the creamery actually increased when supporters of the proposition made it a point to frequent the business. But since then, that enthusiasm has waned, Leatherby told the Bee.

Leatherby's Creamery and the Leatherby family are well regarded in the Sacramento region because the company has often donated ice cream to area charities, said the Bee. “Leatherby is active in the volunteer community,” the newspaper reported. “He built the stairs and helped renovate Hope House, the one-time AIDS hospice.”

Leatherby, said the Bee, “has tried to answer each e-mail and every phone call because he believes that it is the Christian thing to do. He is not ‘a hater,’ he tells those on the other side of the issue.” In one instance, Leatherby agreed to a meeting over lunch with a 70-year-old man on the opposite side of the same-sex marriage issue, according to the Bee. “It's much better to sit down and talk face to face than make an anonymous phone call," the Prop. 8 opponent, Dan Souza, told the newspaper. "Alan and I are on different sides of the issue, but we've had pleasant talks. We just have different beliefs."

Given the difficulties the family business has faced in the aftermath of its support for Proposition 8, does Leatherby regret his decision? "I really don't," Leatherby told the Bee. "I'm excited to stand up for the institution of marriage and for my faith."

© California Catholic Daily 2009. All Rights Reserved.