In a lawsuit announced on Tuesday, the ACLU is suing the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville for turning away a lesbian couple last fall because the inn’s owner has a policy of no gay receptions. The ACLU says the inn violated state anti-discrimination rules by refusing to host the wedding reception.
The inn’s owners, Jim and Mary O’Reilly, issued a statement saying they are devout Catholics who believe in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.
“We have never refused rooms or dining or employment to gays or lesbians,” they wrote. “Many of our guests have been same-sex couples. We welcome and treat all people with respect and dignity. We not not, however, feel that we can offer our personal services wholeheartedly to celebrate the marriage between same-sex couples because it goes against everything that we as Catholics believe in.”
The lawsuit accuses the inn of violating the state Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act, which bars public accommodations from denying services to people based on sexual orientation, and asks a judge to bar the Wildflower Inn from excluding gays.
Source: Fox News
