Two Christian guesthouse owners who were penalised for following a rooming policy based on their Christian beliefs about marriage and sexual ethics are having their case heard in the Supreme Court this week.
Compensation
In 2011, Peter and Hazelmary Bull were ordered to pay homosexual couple Martin Hall and Steven Preddy £3,600 in compensation after refusing to offer them a double room in accordance with their “married couples only” policy at their guesthouse in Cornwall.
Judge Andrew Rutherford, who passed the ruling at Bristol County Court, held that the owners had discriminated directly against the couple on the grounds of sexual orientation, even though the policy had been applied consistently to both unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples.
The Bulls decided to take their case to the Supreme Court after the County Court’s decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in February last year.
Supreme Court in London
Five Supreme Court justices in London will hear the case over a two-day period on the 9th and 10th October, with a judgment expected at a later date.
Aidan O'Neil QC, representing the couple, told the court this week: “This case is unusual - perhaps almost unique.”
In written submissions to the judges he said that the Bulls' decision had been founded on their “religiously informed judgment of conscience”.
Christian believers
“The Bulls are Christian believers. They believe the Bible to be God's word, which reveals God's perfect standards,” he said.
“They take this responsibility very seriously and always strive to keep their consciences clear before God.”
He added: “If the Bulls are required by law to provide double-bedded rooms in their hotel to persons who are not in a monogamous opposite sex marriage with one another, then, in order to remain faithful witnesses to their religious beliefs and true to their religiously informed conscience, they will need to cease operating their hotel and, indeed, to withdraw from providing overnight hospitality to any section of the public.”
Alongside the Bulls’ case, the Supreme Court will also hear the case of Susanne Wilkinson who was sued by homosexual couple, Michael Black (64) and John Morgan (59), after she refused to offer them a double bed at her Swiss Bed & Breakfast in Berkshire in March 2010.
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