Homophobic Slur Displayed On FL Auto Repair Shop Sign

TALLAHASSEE, FL — A Florida auto repair shop made waves on social media after a picture of its sign, including a homophobic slur, was shared widely over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Jackson Peel, communications director for the Democratic Caucus of the Florida House of Representatives, tweeted an image Sunday of the sign outside Rick's Repair Shop in Tallahassee, which read, "Veterans get a day [slur] and child molesters get a month Why (sic)"

The tweet had more than 900,000 views as of Wednesday afternoon. Internationally, June is considered national LGBTQ+ pride awareness month.

Peel tweeted, "This kind of bigotry should have no place in our Tallahassee community. It is an embarrassment and the people at Rick’s Repair Shop should be ashamed of their foolish, hurtful and wrong words."

He added, “Once again: pedaphilia (sic) and homosexuality aren’t the same thing and aren’t connected. In broader terms, I’m not in charge of holidays, so (shrug emoji)”

A Tallahassee city commissioner also called out the repair shop for its sign.

"I’m not sure the sad, miserable place a person must be in to take the time to put this up, but I do know the majority of folks in Tallahassee reject this hatred and respect the freedom to be who you are, love who you want and support LGBTQ rights every month of the year," Jeremy Matlow tweeted.

Twitter users also jumped in to comment about the auto shop’s usage of the slur.

"May is National Military Appreciation Month. Says a lot about Rick that he doesn't know this. I think he's replacing his Bud Light with used motor oil," one user tweeted.

Bud Light and Budweiser USA have recently faced backlash for hiring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an advertising campaign.

Another user tweeted, “This is hideous. I pass that place a bunch. I would’ve never gone there to begin with. Now I hope they lose any garbage business they had.”

Some social media users backed up the repair shop.

“Will support him. Thank you for advertising,” one user tweeted.

Another tweeted, “Looks like freedom of speech.”