[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Will people in this conservative part of Texas step up to defend this nontraditional family?
WAITRESS: I just think it's terrible. I think they need a dad.
Don't you want a dad?
BOY: We're fine.
NARRATOR: But this man, at the next table, is not fine.
MAN 1: I'm sorry, but you're just being rude. I'm sorry.
WAITRESS: What do you mean "being rude"?
MAN 1: Can you just—it's not appropriate.
WAITRESS: I think—
NARRATOR: He escorts the waitress away for a timeout and a lesson in Southern manners.
MAN 1: It's completely appropriate that, when somebody comes into a restaurant to have a breakfast with their family, that you'd question their life choices.
WAITRESS: I just feel like I'm entitled to a—to my opinion.
MAN 1: And you are entitled to your own opinion.
WAITRESS: And I'm just uncomfortable.
MAN 1: But this is not the place where you need to voice your opinion.
WAITRESS: OK. Let me put the order in. I'm—I apologize.
NARRATOR: Still, it doesn't look that the waitress has learned her lesson. Watch as she tries to get others to join her cause.
WAITRESS: Is it me that's upset?
WOMAN 1: That doesn't bother me at all.
WAITRESS: It doesn't bother you either?
WOMAN 1: No.
WAITRESS: I don't think—
WOMAN 1: Actually, your behavior bothered me.
WAITRESS: You don't think it's bad for the kids to not have—
WOMAN 1: No.
WAITRESS: —a dad?
WOMAN 1: No.
NARRATOR: So our actress decides to take matters into her own hands. Texas is one of 29 states where gays can be refused service.
WAITRESS: So I think you guys should just leave because you've disturbed them. You're disturbing everybody else.
WOMAN 2: You can't—
MAN 1: You need to get out.
WOMAN 2: No. You can't do that.
WAITRESS: No. I'm not leaving. I have to work here.
MAN 1: Call it—
WAITRESS: No. I have to—
MAN 1: No. You are, by far, the worst waitress I have ever seen in this restaurant. Ever.
WOMAN 2: Your behavior is despicable.
MAN 1: You are a horrible person, and you're a horrible waitress. Like, you need to leave. You need to physically leave this restaurant right now.
WOMAN 2: But if you're a customer, go ask someone else to take care of you.
NARRATOR: Homosexuality and gay parenting are hot button issues—particular in red states, like Texas. So we wondered—is this heroic intervention a fluke?
CAMERAWOMAN 1: OK, everybody. We are rolling.
NARRATOR: Back in the dining room.
WAITRESS: Are you guys a couple?
WOMAN 3: Yeah.
WOMAN 4: Yeah.
WAITRESS: And you're raising kids like that?
WOMAN 3: Yeah. These are our two beautiful children.
WAITRESS: Well, they need dads.
NARRATOR: This time, the waitress is even more unpleasant.
WAITRESS: I'm not the one in public, kissing all over another woman in front of my kids. That's not—I'm—I actually have morals and standards.
NARRATOR: Prompting this man to take a surprising approach.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN 2: You believe in Jesus?
WAITRESS: Do I?
MAN 2: Mm-hmm.
WAITRESS: What are you trying to tell me?
MAN 2: Don't judge. That's it.
WAITRESS: Hmm.
MAN 2: I'll never judge you, and I try not to judge other people.
NARRATOR: But the waitress doesn't follow his spiritual guidance.
WAITRESS: I mean, you're parents with these little kids. She's going to turn out gay just like you because you have no dad in the family.
NARRATOR: Distraught, he appears to be looking for a manager. But instead, he storms out the door. What is he up to? A few minutes later, Donovan returns and delivers this note.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
WOMAN 3: It says, "Hello, friends. I know it doesn't mean much, but I love you all. You have a beautiful family, and I pray that one person's judgmental intolerance does not in any way put a damper on your hearts or minds. In the words of MLK, Jr., 'In the end, we remember, not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.' Donovan."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: This actress, who in real life happens to be gay—
WOMAN 3: Oh, thank you.
NARRATOR: —is clearly touched beyond her role.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
WOMAN 3: That means so much. Thank you so much.
NARRATOR: But when our waitress doesn't back off, our gentle man takes a stronger stand.
MAN 2: Who are you?
WAITRESS: I'm a human being that has the same feelings and everything. They're just—they're—
MAN 2: They're human beings. That's all. That's it. You're not a king. You're not God. You have no choices. You have no place to put anybody in their place.
JOHN QUINONES: Hello, sir. This is all part of the TV show What Would You Do?
[LAUGHING]
MAN 2: Oh, man.
JOHN QUINONES: They're actors. We wanted to see if anyone stand up for them.
MAN 2: I think silence is one of failures of people today—that, when they see an injustice or an intolerance, that they stay silent. And that's the worst thing.
NARRATOR: Which is why our gay actress—
WOMAN 3: I just wanted to thank you guys so much.
NARRATOR: —is so personally touched by the support she's seeing.
JOHN QUINONES: Veronica, you were acting. This wasn't real, and you're in tears.
WOMAN 3: It's real for me. This is my everyday life. So when they're saying those things, they are really talking about me. So yeah. I'm desperately touched by this—and happily so.