The website promoting Susanne Wilkinson's B & B in Cookham informs visitors "A warm and friendly welcome awaits all guests...". Well not all exactly as gay partners Michael Black and John Morgan discovered.
The couple who are from Brampton, Cambridge, were in Cookham to meet some friends and attend a play. They had pre-booked a double room at the Wilkinson's B & B.
When they showed up the welcome wasn't exactly "warm and friendly". Susanne Wilkinson was reportedly 'cold and unfriendly' and told them that it was against her convictions to let them stay. The men were understandably miffed. Black said: "There is no reason why we had to make it clear we were two men in this day and age. We have stayed in plenty of guest houses in Britain and abroad and have never had a problem."
"We're two respectable middle-aged men. John is leader of the Lib Dem group on Huntingdon town council... This was the first time either of us had experienced homophobia at first hand, despite being aged 56 and 62. We were shocked and embarrassed... It was like we were treated like lepers...".
The Cookham B & B
The couple reported the matter to the Thames Valley Police and have provided a statement. Since the men reside outside the local area, the Cambridgeshire constabulary will be following up.
According to the UK Equality Act 2006 it is illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation.
A spokesperson for the gay rights group Stonewall said 'In open-and-shut cases of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation the law's quite clear - it's illegal for businesses to turn away gay customers or discriminate against them when providing goods or services, and this can't be overridden by personal prejudice.'
Susanne Wilkinson apologized to the men and refunded their deposit for the room. However the Wilkinsons didn't back down on what they view as their 'right' to exercise prejudice based upon Christian beliefs. Francis Wilkinson said he wasn't prepared to have "that sort of activity under our roof".
Christianity also talks about avoiding judgmental attitudes, doing onto others as you would have them do onto you and loving your neighbor as yourself. But then JC did set such impossibly high standards.
For more on this story - Guardian - BBC - Independent
