Gay couple turned away from B & B

[shandyleer]

Apparently the lady proprietor, on seeing two men arrive, hummed and hedged and muttered about their only being one bed in the room etc, before actually coming out (Ooh, no pun intended) and turning them away. Saw a brief clip of the b & b owners being interviewed and the man said something to the effect of "we have our children in the house to think of".

I won't be rushing to book a stay at their place ...

"'What about if a BNP member turned up spouting racist crap - would they have to let them stay'

Interesting point! "

I think you'll find that this point has been answered below.

I would only be allowed to print stuff that complied with the law, regardless of the location of my business.

I am surprised by this, i thought that business all 'reserved the right to refuse service'

Especially after watching that prog about 'gypsy weddings' when the hotels would cancel the wedding reception booking as soon as they found out their customers were travellers

I suppose if the woman had just stated that she was sorry but there had been a booking mistake and given them a refund without stating the reason, it would have been ok legally.

Will be interested to see where this story goes.

if you feel that strongly why run a B&B

I wonder if any hotel takes gay BNP voters..?

Gap in the market there maybe...

Don't understand. I would be fine to refuse to print for an organization that I didn't agree with, so long as I wasn't discriminating on ground of race, gender or sexuality.

Good god we are going backwards

"According to law daftpunk - they all should. "

I don't think so. If I understand the law correctly, a B and B could refuse BNP voters but not gay people.

So gay people could be refused a bed on grounds of political beliefs that the b and b owner found offensive but not because of their sexuality.

That's interesting seeker...

I wonder how they would know you voted BNP...?

It's all abit Fawlty Towers isn't it...

"I do know that on some promotional websites you can tick whether you are gay friendly"

hairdryer, trouser press, kettle & gays

Turning people away because they are gay is discrimination. refusing to accept dogs is not discrimination.

All B&B owners are entitled to choose who they want to stay in their 'house'. It's up to them if they lose the business.

no i don't agree Ripeberry & neither does the law - unless they are somehow exclusions from discrimination laws?

Also, what about the ban at Butlins and camping sites about 'all women' or 'all men' bookings?
They seem to assume that they are all going to be trouble

I stand to be corrected, but my understanding is that discrimination law covers race, gender and sexual orientation only. So a gay couple running a b and b could not refuse a straight couple because they were straight. But if they were wearing badges saying that they were members of the Socialist Worker's Party, then they could refuse to allow them in.

ruby, afaik if a man holding a baseball bat wearing a balaclava turned up she could turn him away, as long as she was not doing so on the basis of his age, sex, sexual orientation, race, disability etc... thats certainly how it works for employment, assume it's similar for services

ruby she won't be forced into it as she chose to have a B&b

Hmmm tricky one.I run a B&B from home and have had people stay from all walks of life.I have also had gay people stay in my double room. On the other hand I have also refused certain people as I have 2 small children and feel I have to safeguard their home before anything else.
Have no problems at all with gay people sharing a room/bed,to be honest never gave it a thought.
I DO on the other hand have a problem with drunken/unclean/disrespectful/ people and will not let them stay in my house. Would that be illegal or mean I shouldn't run a B&B?

I do think they need to amend their website, which reads -

A warm & friendly welcome awaits all guests at Susanne Wilkinson's Swiss Bed & Breakfast

Well, unless you are gay, that is. Whilst I do not agree at all with what this woman has done, or her justification for her actions, I think it is rather sad that people have felt compelled to write some pretty vicious reviews on various websites. It's fine to draw people's attention to what she has done, but the content of some of the reviews is pretty nasty, and frankly all it does is make people like Mrs WIlkinson seem like the reasonable party here.

So if you ran a B&B and a couple wanted to have a room and spent all evening and night screaming at each other and wrecking your room, then you should not kick them out?
B&B owners are allowed to 'choose' who they want.
They lose the business and someone else takes the client(s) on. Their loss in the end, but you have to remember, the B&B owners live in that house and need to feel comfortable with their 'guests'.
What do you think they are going to do, call the police and force the B&B to take a client?
It's all a matter of choice.