A homosexual couple who were denied a double bed at a Christian-run B&B are to decide “in the next week” if they will sue the husband and wife who own the business.
Christians Mike and Susanne Wilkinson say if the case goes to court they will argue for freedom to act upon their conscience in their own home.
Mr and Mrs Wilkinson told same-sex couple, Michael Black and John Morgan, that the B&B had a policy of not giving double beds to homosexual couples.
Their case has sparked widespread coverage, especially in the wake of a leading Conservative saying that he believes people running B&Bs in their own home should be able to choose who stays there.
Mike Judge debates theissue on Sky News
The same-sex couple told the Bucks Free Press newspaper they were seeing a barrister “who is going to give us advice and we’ll make a decision fairly soon hopefully in the next week”.
Meanwhile Mike Wilkinson told the paper that the idea that gay rights are allowed to outweigh religious freedom is a “democratic imbalance”.
He said this imbalance is caused by a “powerful” minority which “thinks it can trample over groups with equally strong views – which is sadly wrong.”
Abuse
Mr Wilkinson also said the couple have received further unpleasant messages over the case. The homosexual couple condemned the threats.
After the B&B owners’ story hit the headlines at the end of last month, they received a tirade of abuse, including one threat to burn down their home.
But Mr Wilkinson also said: “We continue to get supportive emails from all and sundry including people of faith, not of faith and gay people.”
The Christian couple are being advised by The Christian Institute.
Sensible
Speaking on the comments by Tory Chris Grayling, Mr Wilkinson said: “We were very pleased with what he has to say, we believe that this is a very sensible position to take.
“He feels that within a private guest house we should have the option of who we take as guests.
“Personally I would like this to become a matter of debate leading up to the election.”
Conviction
The story was discussed on the BBC’s Question Time on Wednesday night, with one of the panellists, Janet Daley, warning about the wider implications of the case.
Watch a clip from the BBC’s Question Time
The columnist, who writes for The Daily Telegraph, said the issue of denying a same-sex couple a double bed came down to a human rights issue, not homophobia.
She said that the couple had not said “gay people aren’t allowed in here”, but rather, “we don’t want certain kinds of sexual activity going on in our home”.
She added: “Our political culture apparently regards the right to sexual activity as more important than the right to religious conviction”.