VERMONT – A Vermont inn is being sued by a lesbian couple from New York for refusing to host their wedding reception.
Kate Baker and Ming Linsley said the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville turned them away last autumn after the owners realized that they were lesbians.
“When the Wildflower Inn told us last fall that they don’t host gay receptions, we were obviously saddened and shocked,” the Associated Press reported Baker as saying. “It was frustrating to be treated like lesser than the rest of the society, and we were also surprised that it happened in Vermont.”
The inn’s owners, Jim and Mary O’Reilly, who are devout Catholics, issued a statement saying, “We have never refused rooms or dining or employment to gays or lesbians. Many of our guests have been same-sex couples. We welcome and treat all people with respect and dignity. We do not, however, feel that we can offer our personal services wholeheartedly to celebrate the marriage between same-sex couples because it goes against everything that we as Catholics believe in.”
Baker and Linsley were able to find an alternate venue, however they say they want to take legal action because the refusal was against the law.
This was an unfortunate event where personal feelings and rights were compromised .. Did anyone even think about the long term effects this has taken on the local working population of Lyndonville who formerly were employed there! Between the economy and the absence of snowfall for Burke Mtn. there are so many people out of work already. THINK ABOUT THE LOCAL VERMONTERS THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS.
Thank you
OFC