Gay couple turned away from B&B

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  Mar 22, 2010 8:29 AM GMT

  UK: A gay couple, on arrival to their reserved B&B, found that the owner had a policy of no homosexuals allowed.
  
  Mrs Wilkinson saw us both before we got out of the car and immediately acted in an unwelcoming, cold way, but my boyfriend and I were polite and friendly.
  "She said if we'd told her in advance she would have told us not to come.
  "She apologised for turning us away. I asked for a refund of the deposit, which she gave me without quibble.
  "We stayed polite and, to be fair, she wasn't rude or abusive."
  
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8578787.stm
  
  Sucks to happen. Has anyone here ever encountered a denial of service on the basis of their sexual orientation? Do you have legal protections where you live?
  
  I had volunteered to give blood a few years ago, and upon honestly completing the questionnaire, the technician had to turn me away as I had admitted to practicing (safe) sex with men. Apparently there is a list that your name goes on as an "unacceptable" donor.

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• GQjock
  
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  Mar 22, 2010 10:16 AM GMT

  I would have done the same
  
  Asked for my money back and head straight for the nearest police dept
  I hope those owner get their bigoted asses fined into oblivion

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  Mar 22, 2010 12:39 PM GMT

  I wonder how she knew they were gay.

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  Mar 22, 2010 12:49 PM GMT

  north_runner said...I had volunteered to give blood a few years ago, and upon honestly completing the questionnaire, the technician had to turn me away as I had admitted to practicing (safe) sex with men. Apparently there is a list that your name goes on as an "unacceptable" donor.

  
  Yes, happened to me in the US right after 9/11, which I've written about here in detail. I wast told my name & SSN were being entered into a national data base that would bar me from giving blood for the rest of my life. BTW, I was then and continue to remain, free of all STDs, including HIV, and any other impediments to donating blood.
  
  For this reason, I think it's one of the rare circumstances in which a gay man should deny his orientation, in effect going "in the closet" for that single occasion. When we're being unfairly discriminated against, I see no reason why we should accede to it by playing into their hands. There are times when civil disobedience is acceptable, especially for a greater good like donating blood, and such defiance has a long & honorable history in the US.

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  Mar 22, 2010 1:09 PM GMT

  Ha, well at least it´s illegal in the UK, even if it still happens. You can´t turn away asians or blacks just because you are racist, you can´t turn away two men just because you are homophobic.
  
  

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• Bunjamon
  
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  Mar 22, 2010 1:17 PM GMT

  Lostboy saidHa, well at least it´s illegal in the UK, even if it still happens. You can´t turn away asians or blacks just because you are racist, you can´t turn away two men just because you are homophobic.
  
  

  
  
  Then again, though, I personally would not want to stay in a situation where I knew I wasn't welcome just to prove a point. If the men were at the B&B it was probably to relax. If the woman hadn't turned them again but their weekend had turned into the getaway from hell, would that have been not as bad?

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• MikePhilPerez
  
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  Mar 22, 2010 1:18 PM GMT

  It has happened to me, and my man, over renting a room. She said in disgust "Oh I wouldn't be into that kind of thing" WTF is that supposed to mean?

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  Mar 22, 2010 1:22 PM GMT

  Bunjamon said

  Lostboy saidHa, well at least it´s illegal in the UK, even if it still happens. You can´t turn away asians or blacks just because you are racist, you can´t turn away two men just because you are homophobic.
  
  

  
  
  Then again, though, I personally would not want to stay in a situation where I knew I wasn't welcome just to prove a point. If the men were at the B&B it was probably to relax. If the woman hadn't turned them again but their weekend had turned into the getaway from hell, would that have been not as bad?

  
  
  Oh I wouldn´t´have stayed to prove a point, but the issue is the general attitude of society as represented in the law. Compare the recent fuckwittery in Virginia where Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (may he have bleeding piles) told colleges that they could no longer ban anti gay discrimination.

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  Mar 22, 2010 1:49 PM GMT

  MikePhilPerez saidIt has happened to me, and my man, over renting a room. She said in disgust "Oh I wouldn't be into that kind of thing" WTF is that supposed to mean?

  
  When I lived in North Dakota, a landlady evicted a gay couple because "their lifestyle was contrary to her religious beliefs." The State Supreme Court upheld the eviction, ruling the state's fair housing laws did not specifically mention sexual orientation as a protected group by gender, race, religion, age, etc.
  
  Had she evicted them on the grounds of their RELIGION being contrary to hers, which is a matter of their free choice, not birth, she would have lost the case. But being born gay in North Dakota you're SOL. Gays have no employment protections there, either.

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• Space_Cowboy_...
  
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  Mar 22, 2010 2:06 PM GMT

  That's really sad, but at least they were still polite and the lady was kind of not a biotch.

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  Mar 22, 2010 3:03 PM GMT

  Space_Cowboy_89 saidThat's really sad, but at least they were still polite and the lady was kind of not a biotch.

  
  Well, this WAS in the UK...

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• coolarmydude
  
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  Mar 22, 2010 3:44 PM GMT

  I heard of something in Houston, Texas a few years ago in which a landscaper refused to do the landscaping at a gay couple's home because of their sexual orientation.
  
  Let me check on that and see what happened...

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  Mar 22, 2010 4:18 PM GMT

  This is unlawful in England and Wales. Under the 2005 Goods and Services Act it is unlawful to discriminate against anybody on the basis of their sexual orientation in employment ( the churches are exempt!!), or in the provision of goods and services. So in a B&B or hotel over here the proprietor is legally obliged to provide accommodation in the same room for a gay couple.

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  Mar 22, 2010 4:20 PM GMT

  Sorry just realised this was in the UK. She was out of order and could / should be prosecuted

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  Mar 22, 2010 4:22 PM GMT

  I'd rather stay someplace better, where I was welcome. It would have been awful staying at a place where they were staring at you, or listening through the night for every little sigh, moan, scream, grunt, groan, and you know - all the things we gays do throughout our nights of bed-thrashing sex.
  
  

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• Celticmusl
  
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  Mar 22, 2010 4:23 PM GMT

  coolarmydude saidI heard of something in Houston, Texas a few years ago in which a landscaper refused to do the landscaping at a gay couple's home because of their sexual orientation.
  
  Let me check on that and see what happened...

  
  
  
  It's interesting. I'm sure this type of thing happens all the time. I think we usually just think "hey, if you're a bigot, we don't want to do business with you anyway.".

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