Gay couple win discrimination case

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-12214368


Gay couple Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy won their discrimination case against the owners of a Bed and Breakfast hotel in Cornwall, England after being refused a room together on the grounds of their sexuality (See link attached). Such discrimination is now an offence in British law.

Some religious groups are claiming this was a set up by Gay Rights group Stonewall in order to persecute religious freedom. Stonewall deny the accusation.

Quite right too. Didn't the B&B owner's defence pretty much come down to the fact they are Christian? To be perfectly frank I believe if defending homophobic action because you are Christian is like defending racist action because you are a member of the Nazi party.

I'm happy for them. I'm glad this couple didn't get away with their discrimination. I mean, why run a B&B if you're only going to let straight married couples stay together? It's nuts.

Although most know my views,I can't help but wonder just how many things like this happen purely for the publicity and for what they can get out of it.

Although I am very happy For their success and I hope I have the same anound of success when I get married (eventually) My question is why would they Get so PO'ed on the fact that these gentlemen were gay. It's truly absurd.

Great to see they won, though any other outcome would have been severely questionable. I hope that it makes these B&B owners think a bit more carefully in future when it comes to things like this. I do wonder if there have been more incidents of this nature or similar (like discriminating based on religion, race, etc) in the recent past.

More than likely. This case would then act as a precedent for others to come through on

I have kind of mixed feelings about this. Here in the US, just about every establishment has a "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" sign which basically allows them to discriminate on whatever grounds they see fit.

While I do see it as a violation of the couple's rights, I also see it as a violation of the B&B owner's rights as a private organization. Maybe that's a right you don't have...something like "Freedom of Association".

Maybe if/when Boxer sees this, he can tell me if I'm wrong.

That's what came to my mind as well. Don't get me wrong, the B&B couple were scummy, but it is their establishment to do with as they see fit.

I did think that included to serve who they chose.

But then, I don't really know how that law goes either.

We do have a freedom of association but our discrimination laws do not allow for discrimination on the grounds of sexuality which is clearly what this was.

How do you determine that? I mean, if those laws are in place, surely the owners would have known about them and refrained from blatantly stating, "You're gay. You cannot stay here."

So how do you determine why service was refused?

Yay.

Yes, they did know about them and a week before this incident they were warned that the message on their website about non-married couples sharing rooms at their B&B was illegal. They persisted with the practice and found someone willing to sue for discrimination.

To be fair B&B owners are renowned for being s***heads to lots of people regardless of their sexual orientation.

Businesses here can refuse the to serve anyone they choose, unless they are a protected class.

So, you can't be refused because you're black, or female, or christian..

You can however be refused in many states because you're gay. Gays are not a protected class in the US, so it's perfectly legal to discriminate against them.. Not everywhere, and each year more states add sexual orientation to the list of protected classes, but the feds still don't.

On the flip side, you can be refused service because you're straight too.