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26/01/2011
Hotel Owners Appeal Gay Ruling
A Christian couple who refused a gay couple a double room in their B&B will be appealing a ruling which said they acted unlawfully.
Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who run Chymorvah Hotel, close to Penzance, said they did not believe unmarried couples should share a room.
Bristol County Court ordered them to pay £1,800 in damages.
Bristol couple, Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy, said the September 2008 incident was "direct discrimination".
The landmark ruling was considered a breakthrough for gay rights, but has sparked debate over Christian rights in Britain.
When ruling, Judge Rutherford said: "It is a very clear example of how social attitudes have changed over the years for it is not so very long ago that these beliefs of the defendants would have been those accepted as normal by society at large.
"Now it is the other way around."
John Wadham, from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: "This decision means that community standards, not private ones, must be upheld.
"The right of an individual to practise their religion and live out their beliefs is one of the most fundamental rights a person can have, but so is the right not to be turned away by a hotel just because you are gay."
The appeal is expected to be heard at the Court of Appeal later this year.
(BMcN/GK)
Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who run Chymorvah Hotel, close to Penzance, said they did not believe unmarried couples should share a room.
Bristol County Court ordered them to pay £1,800 in damages.
Bristol couple, Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy, said the September 2008 incident was "direct discrimination".
The landmark ruling was considered a breakthrough for gay rights, but has sparked debate over Christian rights in Britain.
When ruling, Judge Rutherford said: "It is a very clear example of how social attitudes have changed over the years for it is not so very long ago that these beliefs of the defendants would have been those accepted as normal by society at large.
"Now it is the other way around."
John Wadham, from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: "This decision means that community standards, not private ones, must be upheld.
"The right of an individual to practise their religion and live out their beliefs is one of the most fundamental rights a person can have, but so is the right not to be turned away by a hotel just because you are gay."
The appeal is expected to be heard at the Court of Appeal later this year.
(BMcN/GK)
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18 January 2011
Gay Couple Win B&B Case
A judge has ruled that the owners of a hotel who refused a gay couple a double room acted unlawfully. As Christians, Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who run Chymorvah Hotel, close to Penzance, said they did not believe unmarried couples should share a room.
Gay Couple Win B&B Case
A judge has ruled that the owners of a hotel who refused a gay couple a double room acted unlawfully. As Christians, Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who run Chymorvah Hotel, close to Penzance, said they did not believe unmarried couples should share a room.
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