Don’t underestimate the religious conviction of Dolly Deleon. Sure, she may operate a chapel that doesn’t feel the need to use the entire word wedding. It’s called the Vegas Wed Chapel — who needs all those extra letters? Just get to the vows already, the buffet’s closing soon! Oh, that’s right, it’s also located just off the Las Vegas strip, a place synonymous around the world with the sanctity of marriage. And so what if it’s open 24 hours a day and offers things like hula hoopers and an Elvis impersonator for your obviously well-thought-out ceremony to mark the beginning of your till-death-do-us-part union?
The point is, Dolly Deleon is a believer in the Bible, and you’ve got another thing coming if you think she’s going to ditch her devout commitment to serving God’s will by disgracing her chapel with the likes of a gay wedding.
And she’s not alone. Now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land in Nevada, there are multiple proprietors of awfully chintzy wedding chapels refusing to wed gay couples.
There’s also the aptly named Elvis Wedding Chapel which offers such elegant themes as “Blue Hawaii” and “Elvis In Concert,” but owner David has to draw the line somewhere. For him, that line is refusing to marry same-sex couples.
If you think this sounds suspiciously like unlawful discrimination, that’s because it is.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, for-profit chapels that refuse gay couples can be charged with a misdemeanor. The organization explained exceptions to the law only apply to religious institutions. “The difference between a church and a place of worship and a wedding chapel is that a wedding chapel is a business so that is covered under the Public Accommodations Law of Nevada,” said Tod Story of the ACLU.
Dolly told local news that it would be “hypocritical” of her to marry same-sex couples, but she fails to see the larger hypocrisy at play.
We’re all for wacky weddings, but surely a 24-hour one-stop wedding shop on the Las Vegas strip that strangers stumble into at four in the morning makes more of a mockery of the institution of marriage than a gay couple could ever hope of doing.
Wonder how many of the straight couples Dolly has helped tie the knot are now divorced?
via Washington Post
aliengod
I totally agree that these people are batsh!t crazy. However, I think the way to combat business practices like this are to boycott them. The government has no business telling business owners how to run (or ruin) their business.
Trippy
When I chat with some tweeked out gay horror online, I find myself doubting the future of the gay community AND THEN I read about people like this (and the Idaho inbreds who painted slurs on their car because Jesus) and suddenly I’m thinking, “Yeah… we’re gonna be just fine.”
@aliengod: Actually, the govt DOES have a right to tell businesses how to run their businesses. They do it with anti-discrimination laws. If you offer a service to one group, you have to offer it to everyone. If these people don’t like it, they can convert to a non-profit church and marry whomever they want. Until then… it’s everyone or no one. The law is the law.
aliengod
@Trippy: I understand it’s the law. I just don’t believe it should be. But like they say… opinions are like a$$holes.
doug105
@aliengod: Fun fact: humans are deuterostomes, which means that when they develop in the womb, the anu$ forms before any other opening. Which basically means at one point, you are nothing but an a$$hole.
tdx3fan
My brother married his first wife in Las Vegas. Never mind that she was still legally married to another man.
Riley
The Elvis impersonator pictured above is gay! I dated him years ago…