It looks like it’s the end of the road for Hazelmary and Peter Bull, the Christian husband-wife duo who denied a gay couple a room at their B&B.
Five Supreme Court judges have ruled against the business owners, saying their actions were discriminatory, and effectively bringing the lengthy legal battle to a close.
The Bulls first refused to let civil partners Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall share a bed at their B&B in Cornwall, England back in 2008. At the time, they citied their religious convictions as their reason for discriminating against the couple, claiming that only legally married couples were allowed to share beds in their establishment.
Preddy and Hall sued and, in 2011, a judge ordered the Bulls to fork over £3,600 ($5,840) in damages. The Bulls appealed the ruling. After losing a fight in the Court of Appeal, they took their case the England’s Supreme Court.
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This week, all five Supreme Court judges ruled against the B&B owners.
The Bulls now have the option of bringing their case to the European Court of Human Rights, which they may do, but if they’re smart, they’ll just admit defeat and move on. They’ve already had to sell their B&B to pay for legal costs and they have virtually no public support.
But somehow we don’t see that happening.
The couple recently told the BBC: “We prefer to break the law of the land and get in trouble than to break the law of God and be castigated by him.”
Evidently they don’t view having their livelihood destroyed, losing multiple court battles, and being ridiculed by the public as God’s way of “castigating” them.
Pistolo
LOL. Losers.
jwrappaport
The law is the true embodiment,
of everything that’s excellent.
It has no kind of fault or flaw,
and I, me lords, embody the law.
Dakotahgeo
I had so hoped that these “christian” martyrs would have seen the light, repented of their evil christian ways, and been on their way! Now Christ has to bottle feed the Bull-headed duo until they pass gently from this world into the next. I hope they freeze their asses off!
2eo
An absolutely superb ruling by British law.
It’s hilarious to see the Daily Heil and other excrement throwing duck fits because they’re so against the EU and the EU was supporting the Anti Gay couple fully.
Real egg on the faces of the right, and a genuine blow to religion in my home nation, glorious.
Fitz
They were so full of it– they never asked for the marriage certificates of their straight patrons. And clearly God hates them, look how ugly she made them!
yaoming
I’m glad we have Thanksgiving in the U.S. so I can give thanks for this glorious outcome.
Dxley
I have nothing to say to these two except for one thing: LOL!!! 😀
jonjct
this is not even a gay issue per se. these ppl don’t want ANYONE who is not married in their B&B. so be it. it’s not hatred of gays that motivates them. but what is really frightening is the venom and hatred that gays are exhibiting. “yeah, feck ’em they hate us, so they should rot in hell”. yeah, that’s nice, really nice. and you wonder why ppl don’t want gays to stay in their B&B.
stanhope
Look at them…..ugly as hell and the mug on that woman’s face is a walk through hell itself. So they lost case after case…in addition to being pitiful looking they are also dumb. Well bitches you lost and for what?
BrandoPolo
I like how they haven’t notice that God has smote them mightily for their homophobia, leaving them destitute and humiliated in their final years.
God hates those who hate fags.
DShucking
I have no respect for this couple. But this is a reminder that it’s very important that the supreme court not rule that businesses have the same religious rights as individuals.
glitterbang
And just WHERE is their God NOW?! It’s always so comical to me how the Christian extremists will give God glory for winning anything but blame the devil whenever they lose, which seems to be occurring a lot more lately.
Dakotahgeo
@glitterbang: The most salient part of your comment is not “where is their God now?” but the “Christian extremists” part. God is far too busy working with IMPORTANT events while these poor souls are simply suffering because of their lack of common sense. God gives us brains and ironically allows us to use them for such. We don’t fail because of God, we fail because we simply don’t think. Such was the case in the B&B debacle.
Dakotahgeo
@DShucking: And right you are! This is precisely the point/reason why the Court must be trusted with most ‘civil rights’ cases. The people simply cannot be trusted to use common sense in voting on these bills/amendments. Hawai’i is a prime case in point. Had the people been able to vote on Marriage Equality the minority would lose all rights. In this case, the Legislature did the right thing and it had the Governor’s support as well. I foresee another slate of States passing Marriage Equality in the New Year, perhaps some of those States who oppose it so vehemently.
Saralikesyarr
This is kindof sad.
This entire case is kindof sad to me. I mean they’ve lost their livelihood.
They’re just following their religious beliefs, people do have freedom of religion.
I know, it’s a delicate issue, but seriously, they’re an old couple. It’s kindof mean for them to loose their B&B just for following their religious convictions.
We really do need to distinguish between hate, and respecting people’s differences of religion.
People have a right to practice their religion, a bed and breakfast is a place where you live, it’s like your home where you let others stay.
I think it’s a bit much to ask people who are sincere religious practitioners to say they have to share their home with someone who does something they sincerely religiously view to be wrong, even if they are incorrect, and even if they are ignorant.
This victory just makes us look like bullies.
I’m sure some people on here will disagree, and we’ve all been the subject of hate and bullying by Christians, at least most of us have, but seriously, there are nice Christians, who do just disagree on religious grounds, even if they actually do care about us as a human being.
We can’t just call everyone who disagrees with us “hate”. That’s oversimplifying things and is wrong,
I’m sure many of us have grandparents or other relatives who are Christians and genuinely love or care about us, but disagree with LGBT issues on religious grounds.
I love my grandparents, as I bet many people on here do theirs. We don’t have to be mean to old people just because they don’t understand.
They don’t have much life left anyway. Leave them in peace.
BrandoPolo
It’s sad that you think being old is an excuse for denial of freedom and equality to any American. They are free to disagree with gays on religious grounds all they want: in America they are not free to discriminate at will while offering public accommodations.
This “victory” makes us look like people who understand the Constitution: you should read it sometime. The issue is not “delicate” at all, it’s cut and dried. A bed and breakfast is not “a place where others stay”: these grandparents are pocketing money for people to stay there. It’s a business — as such it is a public space subject to the Constitution’s guarantees of freedom and equality for all. Your business does not get an exception to the Constitution because you’re old.
What you’re suggesting is that if their religious beliefs claimed whites superior to blacks (and, yes, the Bible was once misused to justify that) then it would be okay for them in 2013 to hang a “WHITES ONLY” sign on their door — and if anyone found this intolerable they were being bullies. I suggest that you’re full of it, and you should be ashamed of your victim-blaming. It’s a bit much to suggest the loss of their livelihood is not their own fault.
What’s wrong is you downplaying open discrimination as a “disagreement”. A disagreement is when you and your friend cannot agree what movie to watch. Slavery was not a “disagreement.” Jim Crow was not a “disagreement”. The denial of the vote to women was not a “disagreement”, separate fountains based on race was not a “disagreement”, and barring gays from a public business is not a “disagreement”. You really do need to distinguish between a disagreement and blatant discrimination in violation of American ideals and values. In America, people have a right to expect equality. It’s really sad that you don’t take equality seriously.
Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/bb-owners-who-denied-gay-couple-a-room-lose-yet-again-20131127/#ixzz2mE48hZpN
Saralikesyarr
@BrandoPolo:
“In America”
Is not where this case is taking place friend.
This case takes place in England, and if you had read up on the case you would know that.
Dakotahgeo
@Saralikesyarr: Thank you!
BrandoPolo
@Dakotahgeo: Whoopsy-daisy. Well let them discriminate away.
Carry on, bigots!
DShucking
@Saralikesyarr: People have religious freedom. Businesses don’t. Wasted post but at least we know everything we need to know about you now.