Fridae

The scenario looks right out of a What Would You Do? episode, a popular American hidden camera, ethical dilemma TV series that catches how people react when witnessing acts of social injustice.

Joel Diaz (right) and Ethan

Two men in Columbus, Ohio were holding hands while waiting in a line for pizza when they were told by a man to cut their "gay shit" out.

One of the men Joel Diaz wrote on Huffington Post after sharing the incident that occurred on Dec 30 on Facebook: “After a fun night out in the Short North, my friend Ethan and I ventured down the street to a popular pizza truck called Mikey's Late Night Slice. As a frequent late night visitor to the truck I knew the requisite wait in line is part of the process for securing an insanely good slice of pizza. It was really cold so Ethan and I were holding hands and standing close together to keep warm, we were laughing and joking about all the fun we'd had that night, when all of the sudden the guy in front of us turns around and tells us to cut our "gay shit" out.”

To his surprise, the other patrons in the line spoke out against the abuser.

“Almost every single person in that line made it known to him it was not OK for him to speak to us like that.” Diaz, who works as Chief Development Officer at AIDS Resource Center Ohio continued: “I didn't expect to see allies so willing to chime in and let this guy know that his hate speech wouldn't be tolerated.

He added that as the man grew more irate and vocal, the employees of the pizza truck stopped what they were doing and leaned towards the window and told him they would not serve him because he was spewing hate, and that he should get out of line because they would not be serving him. The man eventually left with a friend.

As his Facebook post went viral, the pizza truck’s Facebook page shared Diaz’s status and weighed in on their staff’s commitment to being good, rational people by “sticking up and doing the right thing. Diaz reminds everyone that they can do their bit: “I think stories like this shared by our LGBT friends and allies are important because it gives people hope and courage. It shows that the arc of the moral universe does bend towards justice and we are not alone in this struggle. I ended my post by saying we must never forget to speak up and make our voices heard no matter where we find ourselves. I firmly believe this is how we will continue to change hearts and minds across this country and in the world but we can't do it alone, we need everyone to take up our mantle for equality and drive it forward.”

Watch the men speak about their experiences here.