A 69-year-old British woman and her 74-year-old husband were ordered Wednesday to pay damages to a gay couple after the U.K. Supreme Court ruled they wrongfully kept the couple from staying in their Christian-based bed-and-breakfast.
Hazelmary and Peter Bull, who have religious views that regard any sex outside of marriage as a “sin,” refused to allow Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall to stay in a double room at their privately owned bed-and-breakfast in 2008, BBC reported.
The gay men sued, and the couple lost in Bristol County Court and then again at the Court of Appeal. But Mr. and Mrs. Bull said they didn’t discriminate against the men — they just made a “religiously-informed judgment of conscience,” BBC said.
Once again, they lost in court. The five Supreme Court justices said they did discriminate, effectively reinstating a fine that was handed down at the Bristol County Court level in 2011, of about 3,600 pounds, or $5,874.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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