A Hawaiian First Circuit Court judge has ruled in favor of a lesbian couple turned away from a bed in breakfast for being gay, an act in clear violation of the state’s public accommodations law. The law prohibits business owners from discriminating against customers based on race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and hopefully the number of leis you decide to take from the welcome center (because everyone knows you can’t ever have enough).
In 2007, Southern California couple Diance Cervelli and Taeko Bufford were asked to leave the Aloha Bed & Breakfast in Honolulu, Hawaii, after requesting an overnight room with one bed. When asked if they were planning on sleeping in just one bed together, the couple was turned away by B&B owner Phyllis Young, who told them she was uncomfortable accommodating gay people in her home. Young also claims she doesn’t allow unmarried couples to book rooms.
Jim Hochberg, an attorney representing Aloha Bed & Breakfast wants the world to know about the court’s decision, claiming his client’s decision is protected under her First Amendment rights, and laws governing businesses have no place in his client’s home. Perhaps she should have thought about that before turning her entire home into a business? “The public needs to be aware of this decision because it has far-reaching consequences,” he said.
“It was just hurtful,” said Carvelli. “It made me feel we weren’t good enough.”
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Though justice has been served, the process hasn’t forced Young to act accordingly in the future. She told the Hawaii Human Rights Commission that homosexuality is “detestable” and “defies our land.”
Dakotahgeo
This legal verdict/victory warms my heart! You DO NOT have the right, real or imagined, to violate another person’s/persons’ rights via discrimination… ever! ESPEcially when there is a law against it. Said dingbat gave up her private home status when she turned it into a business venture, open to ALL public personages. These people seemingly will never learn, except through the judicial process and an endless amount of money out of their bank accounts. One would THINK they’d learn!
2eo
People have rights. Ideas do NOT.
MuscleModelBlog.com
Awesome! I’m glad that the rights of the couple were upheld.
northwest
Good for them, cute couple.
Texasteacher
You can have who you want in your home, but when you turn your home into a business, you have to obey the states’ statutes related to your business. Paying customers are not interested in your opinions about who can share a bed or the intricacies of your religious beliefs. I’m sure that having a house in Hawaii that can accommodate guests affords a great business opportunity, but to open it as a bed and breakfast takes a special kind of personality open to any kind of person and personality that may show up.
Gigi Gee
“The public needs to be aware of this decision because it has far-reaching consequences,” he [the lawyer for the bigoted owner] said.
The public also needs to know THE LAW! You can’t just do shit because you want to. Leviticus 20:9-10 says children who curse their parents and people who commit adultery should be stoned to death. Try either one of those two and see where you end up.
DOFEK
GO FOR IT GIRLS xoxoxo take it over and tell them to suck egg. AdamHomo
sanfranca1
@Gigi Gee: Yes! Exactly.
mauikamaaina
I am very proud of my Home State for living up to its motto: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono – The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! on Aloha Bed & Breakfast. You make a mockery of what you have chosen to name your B&B. You have ABSOLUTELY NO Aloha!