The Christian owners of a bed and breakfast have spoken of the hate-filled messages they received in the wake of refusing to give a homosexual couple a double room.
Mike and Susanne Wilkinson say “hundreds of emails an hour” came in from around the world, as well as phone calls and texts – some which were “very sexually explicit”.
And they also told of messages threatening to ‘come and get them’.
Scary
Speaking to a national newspaper, Mr Wilkinson explained: “One was hand-delivered and handwritten in capitals and said ‘I am coming to burn your house down’ and then lots of filthy words about what they thought of us.”
He added: “It was very scary. And we’ve guests as well as children living here. People started cancelling the bookings. And that’s when we called the police.”
However the police, despite searching through thousands of messages, were unable to track down any of the senders.
There is no suggestion that any of the messages came from the homosexual couple who were refused a room.
Positive
Mr Wilkinson also said they had received many positive messages.
They were in court last week after homosexual couple, Michael Black and John Morgan, sued them over their actions.
The judge’s decision is expected in the coming days.
The Wilkinson case is being supported by The Christian Institute’s Legal Defence Fund.
Faith
At the trial Mrs Wilkinson said: “All we ever wanted was to be able to live and work in keeping with our faith.
“Christianity isn’t just something we do in church on a Sunday – it affects every area of our life, including our home and our business. Surely there is room for that in modern British life.”
James Dingemans QC, representing Mrs Wilkinson, said it was against his client’s beliefs for unmarried people to share a bed under her roof, adding: “This is protected by the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.”