A gay couple refused a double room at a B&B in Cornwall have won damages.
I suspect this will become the major news talking point for today, although I bet forum moderators across the net let out a collective groan when the story started to run.
It might surprise some of you, but I wouldn't refuse these guys a room, double or otherwise.
Gay couples are often dinkys - double income, no kids.
They are known in business to be good spenders, and the few gay people I have known have been good drinkers, but not prone to booze-fuelled violence.
This makes gay people ideal punters for the hospitality trade.
tinyurl.com/5rjl5vk
Last edited by: Iffy on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 12:15
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Well Iffy, if you and I booked in (perish the thought:) ), I bet they wouldn't ask if we were married, so I make the court right for awarding damages.
Pat
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With regard to being big spenders there isn't much scope for spending extra in a B&B - it is £?? a night and that's it.
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Depends if the B&B has a booze licence and/or does evening meals. My Mums does/did and she's always delighted to offer accomodation to gay, or any other kind of couple. Everyone's money is the same colour.
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Apparently the B&B owners only let married couples have double rooms.
The whole thing has echoes of Fawlty Towers about it.
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Landlord/lady described as a 'Christian' couple in the media. That's good then. No gays in the Church after all!
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How ironic that a "Christian" should refuse someone shelter at their Inn.
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Being a Gemini I'm entitled to two views !
I agree with the Court's view that it was clearly discrimination against the couple. On the other hand I would support the right of any hotelier to turn away any person without giving a reason....
Anyway it gives the Mail something to wail about and feed the frenzy of its reading demographic.
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>> On
>> the other hand I would support the right of any hotelier to turn away any
>> person without giving a reason....
Well, the problem was they DID give a reason. And in this day and age nobody is surprised how it ended up.
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Around 1989 my girfriend of 5 years and I were refused the double room I had booked over the phone by the woman at the reception of a hotel in Edinburgh. We weren't teenage runaways either - we were in our mid 20s.
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...Around 1989 my girfriend of 5 years and I were refused the double room I had booked over the phone...
If that happened today you could go to the Government-funded Equality Commission and persuade them to fight your case at public expense.
You might win, too, because the hotel owners would have to fund their own defence.
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Iffy just make sure you (of the there's mould in my shower scandal) don't book that b&b. The clues are on the website and in the photos. If more confirmation was needed a look at tripadvisor will help...
I dont even know where to start, maybe with the religious fanatics who run the place, or perhaps the bacon and sausage flaoting round my breakfast plate in a sea of grease, no i think i'll start with the, why i first thought was 1950's charm....ummm no it had just not been decorated since before sliced bread was invented!
The service and 'welcome' was as friendly as havin a gun pointed to your face with a sinister smile on the face of the person about to fire it! not what i would have expected from people who describe themselves as 'christians and accomadating in a unaccomadating world'!
The room was hidiously decorated and the ensuite (if you could a wardrobe with a loo and sink in it as an ensuite) was uncleaned from, what looked lie, the previous 2 weeks worth of stupid people who booked to stay here!
ouch!!
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...was uncleaned from, what looked lie, the previous 2 weeks...
And I thought cleanliness was meant to be next to godliness.
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Aside from the rights and wrongs of this case, on which I don't have a view, how do night clubs and discos get away with the having bouncers and a dress code and turning people away if they don't fit the "rules"?
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What... in the case someone gets refused for being straight :-)
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Sorry Fenlander - I don't follow you. In any event it seems than anyone can be refused a service by any business or establishment, so long as they don't give a reason for doing so
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Just the way my mind was working... thinking that in many clubs you might get turned away as being too straight.
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easy coz they is bigger than you and theres 4 of em
to PP....
Last edited by: Bellboy on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 15:09
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The fastest I've ever come down stairs (just short of freefall) was when I was stupid enough when asked by a bouncer halfway through a club night why my clothes didn't match the dress code... to say it was because I came in the fire exit!!
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Ultimately there's no compulsion on anyone to provide a service to anyone else if they don't want to - the mistake is bringing race/religion and sexuality into the mix.
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...how do night clubs and discos get away...
This is one of the questions raised by the case.
It has always been generally held that a business does not have to supply its goods or services to anyone, and can turn away any prospective customer without giving a reason.
Obviously, a business which did that often would soon go under, but the fundamental right of refusal still exists.
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If you have read the article and visit the website, looking at the menus (eg Cornish Pasty +clotted cream?), it is not surprising the proprietor is in for a triple bypass!
I suppose if god was not on her side she would not still be with us;)
Last edited by: pmh on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 15:13
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Interesting to note that the three really bad reviews on Trip Advisor are the last three, presumably since the case was publicised .
Prior to that they are all four and five star reviews ..... so why the sudden change?
I have my suspicions that the later reviewers have been .....shall we say ...less than truthful about their experiences...
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...Prior to that they are all four and five star reviews ..... so why the sudden change?...
An employee at the B&B told the court he suspected the booking was a set-up.
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it was a set up. They were targeted because they had refused a gay couple a room some time earlier.
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...They were targeted because they had refused a gay couple a room some time earlier...
Serial offenders, eh?
That makes it worse. Hanging's too good for them.
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A business can insist on any dress code it likes. They would have a legal right to refuse entry to anyone who choose not to comply.
What it cannot do is refuse service on the grounds of race, religion, gender, disability or sexuality etc. These are things over which the person concerned has no choice and they cannot be treated differently because of it.
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Iffy will get more than mould in his shower if he goes there
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Bit surprised that BBC News (24) had Jane Hill interviewing one of the couple's representatives about the outcome of the case and its implications earlier, especially in view of the case the Beeb has just lost at a tribunal.
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Following Sepp Blatter's suggestions for the World Cup in Qatar, I can see problems for travel agents looming. Do they refuse to take bookings from gay couples and get fined or do they take the bookings and pay compensation when the hotel chucks them out?
Last edited by: Biggles on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 20:20
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>> Following Sepp Blatter's suggestions for the World Cup in Qatar, I can see problems for
>> travel agents looming. Do they refuse to take bookings from gay couples
I'd suggest that given the human rights issues for homosexuals in Arab states, the entire World Cup fanbase would be well advised to be professed married heterosexuals if they value their freedom!
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People of certain sexual inclinations do not have a choice! This is news to me! Mind you I do live a very sheltered life
Last edited by: Perky Penguin (p) on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 18:53
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>> People of certain sexual inclinations do not have a choice! This is news to
>> me! Mind you I do live a very sheltered life
>>
You don't get to push a button to decide if you're gay or straight, or whether you prefer blondes or brunettes. It's how you are and nowt you can do about it.
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I prefer to have lots of money, but I don't go out and rob banks.
As I said, its a lifestyle choice, and I am perfectly happy with people choosing that lifestyle.
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...You don't get to push a button to decide if you're gay or straight ...It's how you are and nowt you can do about it...
Much research has been done about that, mostly to determine if a child is more likely to be homosexual if it is brought up in a homosexual environment.
From what I can gather, the majority view is the child's sexual orientation will not be influenced by its upbringing.
But there are those who will disagree.
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I think the words choice and self-control enter the equation somewhere, surely? There is no button to press but there is a brain to use. Or perhaps not?
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>> I think the words choice and self-control enter the equation somewhere, surely? There is no
>> button to press but there is a brain to use. Or perhaps not?
One can exercise choice as to which partner one goes with and exercise self control within the relationship. But if males attract and females repel there is no choice.
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Was Fred West born to be an evil pervert or did he become one and have no control over the vile events which occurred?? Abstinence is aalways an option too!
Last edited by: Perky Penguin (p) on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 21:10
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PP.
Picking people up and murdering them cannot be equated with a loving relationship between consenting folks (can it??)
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Abstinence is aalways an option too!
>>
And in the case of homosexuals, should it be the one they choose?
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No but it is an option and a free choice!
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Why would or should they choose that option?
If it were to be the choice just to prevent causing offence to others, then that would suggest that it is the other people who have the problem.
Pat
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There is a difference between what is legal and what is natural. We are stuck with the law and we can all have our own differing views on what is natural.
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The whole thing was a set up ! they knew before they booked as the info was on the web site, there are 100's of B&B's to choose from so why choose that one.
so much for human rights ! the religious couple were not entitled to their opinion but the gays were.
Where is this country going!
So camp sites that don't allow just boy groups or all girl groups to reduce noise for the sake of everyone on the site ! are they going to protest next ? where does it all end!
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Surely they're not going to ban us gays from the camp sites next - we were there first ;-)
And anyway, quite frankly, what self respecting homosexual would be seen in a B&B :-)
Last edited by: PeterS on Tue 18 Jan 11 at 21:04
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"the religious couple were not entitled to their opinion but the gays were.
Where is this country going!"
The right way at last.
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Of course the religious couple are entitled to their opinion. But if they are intrusively curious about what goes on in the rooms they might consider running a cafe or pub instead. Hotel work doesn't suit them.
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AC
>>>But if they are intrusively curious about what goes on in the rooms they might consider running a cafe or pub instead<<<
intrude –adjective
1. tending or apt to intrude; coming without invitation or welcome: intrusive memories of a lost love.
2. characterized by or involving intrusion.
3. intruding; thrusting in.
Far be it from me to question your words;) but definitions 1 & 3 seem to have some elements that would encourage active involvement of the owners in what goes on in the rooms!!!!
Last edited by: pmh on Wed 19 Jan 11 at 09:00
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"the religious couple were not entitled to their opinion but the gays were."
Well, that's one way of putting it, though it's a complete distortion. The religious couple are entitled to their opinion, but the case wasn't about their opinion. It was about their actions.
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>>
>>
>> What it cannot do is refuse service on the grounds of race, religion, gender, disability
>> or sexuality etc. These are things over which the person concerned has no choice and
>> they cannot be treated differently because of it.
>>
I'd question including "religion" in that list. I was brought up as a bog-standard non-believing school-assembly-attending CoE conscript, and ditched the lot as a load of rubbish once I'd left the school gates behind.
I am free to train and enroll in any other religion I might like, or alternatively decide not to bother. It's just another life-style option.
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I'm struggling to work out which couple is the most intolerant.
Today's story suggests the B&B couple are short of money.
One of two of the comments on it - particularly the ones from other gay men - are worth a quick look.
tinyurl.com/6aungkn
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I would have thought this was a win win situation.
Gay couples know they will get a frosty and hostile reception from this miserable and ugly pair, so they will steer clear.
Gay hating Christians know they can stay somewhere where the bed hasn't been sullied by obscene disgusting perverted practices.
Happiness all round surely?
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Why in a world full of hatred can't people accept it when people (of either sex) love each other.
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Which is exactly what Jesus would have said, PU. Imho. "Christians" are usually barking up the wrong tree.
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>> exactly what Jesus would have said, PU. Imho. "Christians" are usually barking up the wrong tree.
It is often suggested that Jesus, a scruffy subversive, might be crucified at a younger age than 33 were he to reappear in today's world. Don't forget his harsh attitude to moneylenders. Today, apart from the obvious banking system, that might extend to cover corporations whose colossal financial power is based on getting free, or nearly free, material inputs. The oil industry and food industry in the lead.
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>>
>> It is often suggested that Jesus, a scruffy subversive, might be crucified at a younger
>> age than 33 were he to reappear in today's world
>>
His mother would never have got away with that excuse for getting pregnant.
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I remember the time when being gay was being happy, not being homosexual or lesbian.
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You must be getting on a bit. Do you sit down to pee yet?
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He can't be as old as all that. In the 1890s "gay" had distinct connotations of sexual licence. The decade wasn't called the "Gay 90s" because of jolly vicarage tea parties.
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>> In the 1890s "gay" had distinct connotations of sexual licence.
Well before that actually. But the specifically homosexual meaning is more recent.
We all know that words move in and out of different modish or cant meanings. I worked with a bunch of male homosexuals in the early sixties. They described themselves, and anyone they remotely approved of, as 'camp', and detested the word queer which they said was dismissive and discriminatory. Nowadays though 'queer' is accepted and embraced by homosexual men, or was a year or so back anyway.
Similarly, we all know that sexual mores and preferences vary somewhat over time and from place to place. So there's something a bit strained about these tired old jokes about making it compulsory. Reminds one indeed of the psychoanalytic behaviour category 'pre-adolescent homosexual collusion': brutish agreement on girls being stupid and poofs being pussies, that sort of thing.
Actually this forum is a fairly good example of that. The only thing that stands between us and accusations of (admittedly sublimated) homosexuality is Pat. Even she is at risk, doing as she does what is normally considered a macho job.
I hope you won't mind me pointing this out, you bunch of poofs.
:o}
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Nice post AC. Slight clarity on the "queer" word.My impression is that it has been reclaimed by certain elements within the gay community, they use it amongst themselves but find it offensive when used by others, others just find it plain offensive - the same as the "N" word amongst certain black people.
Last edited by: Pugugly on Thu 20 Jan 11 at 17:30
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>> Slight clarity on the "queer" word
Thank you PU. I stand fine-tuned.
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>> I hope you won't mind me pointing this out, you bunch of poofs.
>>
>> :o}
>>
Didn't the OP "come out of the closet" in another thread recently?
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I know plenty of gay people - none of whom are homo-sexual, or lesbian.
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I am thinking of leaving the country before it becomes compulsory.......
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I thought it was, in some of the countries you work in (Middle East?)
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www.lyricstime.com/frank-sinatra-granada-lyrics.html recorded 1961.
"The glory of yesterday, romantic and gay."
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 21 Jan 11 at 07:27
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Do homosexuals cease to be gay when advancing years robs them of their ability to perform homosexual acts?
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>>Do homosexuals cease to be gay when advancing years robs them of their ability to perform<<
I think you'll find its the other way round L'es (if you'll excuse the expression)
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Probably no more and no less than hetrosexuals.
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>> Probably no more and no less than hetrosexuals.
>>
As L'escargot is over 100 years old, perhaps he would care to tell us his experience in this regard as a heterosexual. No use of the blue tablets allowed, mind. :-)
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Snails are hermaphrodites
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Gay men never have headache......
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Gay couple win B&B double room case - Pat
