ENTER the Chymorvah Private Hotel in Marazion, near Penzance, and in the bedrooms you will find open Bibles and Christian leaflets. The reception area features a mosaic that reads:
Jesus Christ is Lord.
On its website, the deranged hotel owners – Peter and Hazelmary Bull – declare:
Here at Chymorvah you will be met by a friendly welcome. Besides excellent food in plenty and comfortable beds, you will find a warm hospitality and much happiness, mingled with good service.
But only if you are heterosexual and married.
And this, according to that bastion of paranoia, the Christian Legal Centre, has landed them deep in the soft and smelly, for they are now facing a discrimination claim brought by a gay couple who were refused a double bed.
Martyn Hall and his civil partner, Steven Preddy, from Bristol, have lodged a claim for damages, alleging sexual orientation discrimination.
The couple are claiming that the refusal to allow them to share a bed was:
Direct discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
They are relying on Equality Act regulations and are claiming up to £5,000 in damages against the hotel owners, who are now facing a civil action at Bristol County Court this coming Monday.
The Christian Institute, which is assisting the Christian couple, is outraged, and has issued a statement saying:
This case is about liberty of conscience. This guesthouse is Mr and Mrs Bull’s own home. They have rights too, and they should not be forced to act against their sincerely held religious beliefs under their own roof. Their guesthouse is not the only one in Cornwall, there is plenty of room for diversity of opinion. This Christian couple are being put on trial for their beliefs. Equality laws are being used as a sword rather than a shield.
The CLC points out that the the legal fees of the homosexual couple are being paid by the Government-funded Equality and Human Rights Commission, and that the hearing:
Could set precedent on what restrictions Christian B&B and hotel owners will be allowed to include in their business terms.
Mr Bull, 70, and his 66-year-old wife say that the policy, which has been in operation since they bought the B&B in 1986, is based on their beliefs about marriage and not hostility to sexual orientation. The terms of the policy are well advertised on the internet and on all booking forms, and are applied consistently to unmarried couples, whether heterosexual or homosexual.
In August 2008 a letter was sent to the B&B by Stonewall, a homosexual lobby group, claiming that its double bed policy was illegal.
On September 19, 2008, the Bulls received correspondence from Devon and Cornwall Police stating that an allegation had been made that the B&B policy was homophobic and went against current civil legislation. The police stated that the matter had been recorded as a “non crime homophobic incident”.
In May 2010, another Christian couple, who run the Swiss B&B in Berkshire, became subject to legal action by two homosexuals after they explained to them that the guest house had a policy of not offering double beds to homosexual couples. Mike and Susanne Wilkinson said that it was “against their convictions” to let the pair share a double bed in the home where they live as husband and wife with their children.
A rare bit of good news for the CI and the CLC is reported in today’s Daily Mail, which says that police have been ordered to pay compensation to a Christian street preacher who was hauled off in handcuffs for saying that gays will go to hell.
A judge condemned the arrest of Anthony Rollins, who quoted the King James Bible on the subject of the “effeminate” as he preached in Birmingham.
The lunatic Rollins was handcuffed and then held in a cell for nearly four hours after a passer-by dialled 999 and complained that his language was “hugely offensive”.
The ruling – which ended with West Midlands police ordered to pay more than £4,000 in damages to the 45-year-old preacher – appears to set a new landmark in the battle between the gay lobby and Christians who want to say in public that homosexual sex is wrong.
The ruling was praised by the Christian Institute, which backed Rollins’ court claim. Spokesman Mike Judge said:
Street preachers may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they are part of our Christian heritage. Most people just walk on by and ignore it. The police have no business arresting Christians for quoting the Bible.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn (Rollins report)