A northern Vermont resort has settled a lawsuit against them by a lesbian couple, who wanted to have their wedding reception there and owners refused, due to their personal beliefs on same sex marriage.
Couple Kate Linsey and Ming Linsey, from New York, stated that The Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville's innkeepers Mary and Jim O'Reilly declined to host gay weddings at their inn.
In the settlement, The Wildflower Inn will have to pay $10,000 to the Vermont Human Rights Commission and $20,000 in a charitable trust that will be distributed by Kate and Ming Linsey.
Ming Linsey, 35, said to Reuters, "We're glad that the Wildflower Inn has recognized that the way we were treated was wrong and that no other family will have to experience what we did. All families should feel welcome at any resort that's open to the public," she said.
The Linseys had plans to hold their ceremony at a Buddhist retreat in northern Vermont and then the reception at an in nearby. The Wildflower Inn was the ideal spot with 570 acres of beautiful landscape with the inn promoting itself as an ideal place to host weddings.
When Ming Linsey's mother, Channie Peters, informed the inn in 2010 that it would be for two women, she reportedly received an email from the inn's events director with the subject line "I have bad news."
In the email it said that the inn would not be able to host their wedding reception because of the innkeepers "personal feelings."
In Vermont, it is against the law to deny goods and services based on sexual orientation and that goes for hotels, restaurants, schools and other businesses. According to The Vermont Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act, the Wildflower Inn was in violation of this.
Owner of the inn, Jim O'Reilly said in a statement issued by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a faith-based legal ministry based in Scottsdale, Arizona. "The Wildflower Inn has always served - and will continue to serve - everyone in our community. But no one can force us to abandon our deeply held beliefs about marriage."
Vermont made same sex marriage legal in 2009 and same sex couples have been allowed civil unions since 2000.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
