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mySanAntonio.com
Katy Barber, mySanAntonio.com
A Texas artisan market is under fire for rejecting a vendor's application once it learned the artist is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, according to an email shared with MySA. The Roots Market, located in Fort Worth's most queer-friendly pocket of the city on Magnolia Ave., cited the business' religious values in its rejection.
Carlie Alaniz, owner of The Lucky Pot Co., received the email on Wednesday, May 31, from the Roots Market that began with an apology that the organization had accepted her application to sell her homemade plant pots, plant decor, and candles without "doing [their] research beforehand."
"Our business (the Market) has values just like any other business," the email says. "Our values are biblically based, we do not have the same views as LBGTQ+."
The email reiterates the apology for accepting without "researching" beforehand before some well wishes and a note that Alaniz's vendor fee will be refunded. The business, which describes itself on social media as "a joy filled Marketplace to sip, shop, [and] snack," has not publicly shared the anti-LGBTQ+ stance cited in the correspondence.
Alaniz said she was initially shocked by the email, considering she has already set up shop and sold with the Roots Market at their opening market on May 13 for Mother's Day. The email she received was in reference to her application to sell at the market planned for Saturday, June 3, which also happens to be the first weekend of Pride Month.
"You know, I’m Hispanic but white-passing and I’m bisexual in a heterosexual relationship so I don’t get discriminated against really," Alaniz told MySA. "I benefit from privilege in that way, so when it did happen I was shocked. Once that wore off, I was mad."
She said she initially shared the email to her Instagram story as a means to warn other local vendors, which was her main audience before May 31, and didn't intend for the story to spread across social media and capture media attention. But her anger resonated with others online, including the Fort Worth subreddit, where it accrued hundreds of comments in response.
"How freaking wild is it that they'll set up in the closest thing that Fort Worth has to a gayborhood, and have no problem making money from said neighborhood, but won't share market space with a member of the LGBTQ+ community," Reddit user u/gregabbottsucks says in the top comment. The comment goes on to call out the market under fire for attempting to usurp the popularity of a longstanding LGBTQ+-friendly market in the same area with a familiar name, Wandering Root Market.
The backlash against Roots Market, which can be seen amongst the comments of Facebook posts and prompted the business to close comments on Instagram, extended to unaffiliated businesses like Wandering Root Market, which prompted a public statement and clarification. The Roots Market has not publicly commented on the matter at the time of writing.
"PSA," Wandering Roots Market said in a Facebook post on Thursday, June 1. "Wandering Roots Markets was established in 2020 and is and always has been a welcoming, safe place for ALL. We are disappointed that ROOTS Markets has popped up in a district we love and has chosen to prevent local vendors and Artisans from taking part in their markets on the basis of their sexual orientation. Y’all Means ALL at Wandering Roots Markets."
Alaniz said the response to her email has not only been uplifting and special but also worldwide, noting she received comments from people as far as Australia.
"You know prayers and thoughts and love and light are all nice, and is needed, but the support I've been getting has been active, it wasn’t passive," Alaniz said. "People were sharing the post, people were telling their friends, people were planning to protest, people were reaching out to their local representatives, it was not passive at all. People were following other LGBTQ+ creators/artists and buying from them, which is amazing."
Despite her anger, Alaniz said she has responded to supporters over the last few days the same mantra she tells herself: The love that I’m getting outweighs any hate they could have.
"I’m not saying people aren’t allowed to have beliefs," Alaniz said. "You can believe in whatever you want, but it is not without consequence and it should never be behind closed doors. Had they been up front about their discrimination, none of this would have happened and people deserve to know that you are willing to take LGBTQ+ people's money, but not have them at the market as a vendor. It shows the true colors of who they are as a person."
Alaniz and The Lucky Pot Co. will be at The Wandering Roots Artisan Market at the Tanger Outlets from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Lucky Pot Co. also has a shop on Etsy.
MySA has reached out to the Root Market for comment.