Ever heard of “Garden Guy” landscapers in my former hometown? Me neither, though they say they’ve been "making Houston beautiful since 1991." It seems they’ve been, well, causing a stink that has nothing to do with fertilizer.

After initial conversations that made it sound like Garden Guy wanted to put in a bid on the landscaping for their new house, Houstonians Michael Lord and Gary Lackey received an e-mail from Sabrina Farber, co-owner of Garden Guy: "I need to tell you that we cannot meet with you because we choose not to work for homosexuals."

Lackey forwarded the e-mail to 200 friends, asking them not to patronize Garden Guy and urging them to pass the word on to friends and family. "I'm still shocked by the ignorance that exists in today's society," Lackey said in his e-mail.

That was a little over a week or two ago.

Thousands have now responded; Garden Guy had to eliminate the forum on their website, and sadly, some of the folks who felt hurt by their actions have responded with cruel, stupid threats and counter-attacks. Still others, mostly religious conservatives who found out about the furor, have sent messages of support for the Farbers.

In a recent interview, Mrs. Farber had his to say…"It was just our intent to uphold our rights as small business owners to choose our clientele," she said. "All the hate…came out because of a very businesslike straightforward e-mail I sent. The crowd of tolerance and diversity is not so tolerant." Of her gratitude for their supporters, she said, "We just cried. We have been through so much," Farber said. "We’ve become accidental crusaders for Christ."

UM….WHAT?

Where does she make that leap? This ‘victim’ who is simply being called to account for her actions is now equating Jesus Christ with discrimination? To promote an anti-gay agenda is to be a crusader for Christ? Hmmm….Not.

Houston, unlike Austin and Dallas, has no ordinance prohibiting businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. They have the right to do what they are doing…at least under the law. But when they start becoming martyrs for Jesus….well, the blood boils.

As a side note, the Association of Professional Landscape Designers had this to say…"It has come to our attention that a former member has declined a professional engagement on the grounds of the prospective clients' sexual orientation. This conduct does not conform to the policy and practice of APLD."

The Farbers may indeed become the garden gurus of the ‘god hates fags’ crowd, but I’ll pass thanks. I'd rather have dead grass.