Anti-Gay Bed And Breakfast Loses Discrimination Suit

[left-of-center2012]

Anti-Gay Bed And Breakfast Loses Discrimination Suit To Same-Sex Couple (Sep 18, 2015)

According to the Illinois Human Rights Commission, Timber Creek Bed and Breakfast violated state nondiscrimination law when, back in 2011, it refused to host a civil union ceremony for Todd and Mark Wathen, a same-sex couple.
(It took four years to reach a decision ?)

> the Wathens reached out to Timber Creek to see if it would host a civil union ceremony

> “No. We only do weddings.
Civil unions and legal marriage are not the same thing, nor do they have the same legal status. We will never host same-sex civil unions. We will never host same-sex weddings even if they become legal in Illinois.
We believe homosexuality is wrong and unnatural based on what the Bible says about it.
If that is discrimination I guess we unfortunately discriminate.”

> The Wathens filed a complaint alleging that Walder had violated the Illinois Human Rights Act, which protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations

> Administrative Law Judge Michael R. Robinson found that the Wathens had provided adequate evidence of unlawful discrimination, that they are “aggrieved by the denial of the full and equal enjoyment of the facilities and services of a place of public accommodation.”

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/09/18/3703027/bed-breakfast-civil-union-discrimination/