Sunday, March 21, 2010

Gay couple refused double room in B and B

There's an episode of Doctor Who, I think it was in the story Remembrance of the Daleks, but I'm sure Daddy Alex will correct me if I'm wrong, where 80s girl Ace (one of my favourite assistants ever) turns over a card in the window of the 1963 B and B they're in and almost jumps with horror when she realises that it says "no coloureds".

The idea that it could ever have been legal to refuse anyone a room in a B and B on the basis of their ethnic background would fill most of us with disgust.

It's just as appalling that Huntingdon Lib Dem Council Group leader John Morgan and his partner Michael were refused a double room at a B and B in Berkshire last Friday night. If you run a business, you have to treat your customers equally. The way John and Michael were treated shows why we the laws we have which prevent people being discriminated against in this way are necessary.

5 comments:

Hywel said...

I don't know if either of those cases were religously based but why are people never victimised for breaking other biblical rules.

Did you ever hear of someone being turned away from B&B because the had a razor and intended to mar the corner of their beards?

Jen said...

@ Hywel - quite! It's funny how often the important rules of any given interpretation of faith happen to coincide with the personal prejudices of the follower.

@ Caron: I'm just very glad that in this case it was people who knew the law. Cases like this help the rest of the population find out or be reminded what the law says.

Unknown said...

@ Hywel - there's also of course that not insignificant matter of wearing clothing of 2 different fabrics, or consuming shellfish.

@Jen That's kind of why I wanted to blog about it to try to raise awareness and add to the pool of information that can be found on a google search.

Anonymous said...

Why shouldn't she be able to act as she wishes? It's her B&B after all, and her home.

If homosexuality was proven to be a genetic condition, it might be different, but all the evidence points towards it being a choice (there are many reports of people who have left the homosexual lifestyle, and reports of people who were previously heterosexual choosing to become gay).

I'm all for people being gay, if that is what they choose. But they cannot be allowed to impose their lifestyle on those who find it disagreeable. To suggest such is almost fascist.

Jack said...

Hywel and Caron (I approach this from a stance of neutrality):

You failed to mention that these old testament laws were revoked by Christ (I cite the vision that Peter had, telling him to kill and eat 'unclean' animals because God had now made them clean).

Homosexuality however, is mentioned as 'abomination' by Paul in Romans 1. And thus, in the Christian faith remains as such, so the argument that you've both proposed cannot hold water.

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