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British Court Awards Damages To Gay Couple Denied Double Room By Christian Hotel Owners

By Howard M. Friedman

The Daily Mail and the Guardian both report today on a decision by a British court awarding damages to a gay couple who were not permitted by a hotel in Cornwall to share a double room.  Hotel owners Peter and Hazel Bull, who are devout Christians, do not allow unmarried couples-- whether heterosexual or gay-- to rent out any of the three double rooms in their seven-room hotel.  The Bulls, who live on the ground floor of the hotel, say their policy is based on their Biblical beliefs.  In the case, one of the first under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, the Bulls argued that their policy was based on sex, not sexual orientation. Plaintiffs, civil partners Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall, were each awarded damages of £1,800 ($2880 US). Bristol County Court Judge Andrew Rutherford wrote that he has no doubt that defendants' beliefs are genuine, but that the changed social attitudes reflected in the Equality Act regulations prevail even though they "cut across deeply held beliefs of individuals and sections of society." He said they are: "a necessary and proportionate intervention by the state to protect the rights of others."

In a statement, the Equality and Human Rights Commission which supported and funded plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said: "The right of an individual to practice 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." A release by the Christian Institute (which funded the hotel owners' case) quotes owner Hazel Bull who says that she believes "Christianity in being marginalized in Britain." She also said that the court has given plaintiffs permission to appeal its ruling. (See prior related posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on January 18, 2011 (boomark / email).