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18 January 2011
Last updated at 06:20 ET
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Steven Preddy: "Nothing in this judgement attacks the beliefs of Christians"
The owners of a hotel who refused to allow a gay couple a double room acted unlawfully, a judge has ruled.
Peter and Hazelmary Bull, of the Chymorvah Hotel, near Penzance, said as Christians they did not believe unmarried couples should share a room.
Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy, from Bristol, said the incident in September 2008 was "direct discrimination" against them.
They were awarded £1,800 each in damages at Bristol County Court.
"When we booked the hotel we just wanted a relaxing weekend away, something that thousands of other couples do every weekend," the couple said in a statement.
"Because we wanted to bring our new dog we checked he would be welcome. It didn't even cross our minds that in 2008 in Britain we needed to ask if we would be."
'Sincere beliefs' Speaking outside court Mrs Bull said she and her husband would discuss an appeal with their lawyers.
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Mrs Bull said the double bed policy was based on their "sincere beliefs"
"We are obviously disappointed with the result," she said.
"Our double-bed policy was based on our sincere beliefs about marriage, not hostility to anybody."
In his ruling, Judge Rutherford said that, in the past 50 years, social attitudes in Britain had changed and it was inevitable that laws would "cut across" some people's beliefs.
"I am quite satisfied as to the genuineness of the defendants' beliefs and it is, I have no doubt, one which others also hold," he added.
"It is a very clear example of how social attitudes have changed over the years for it is not so very long ago that these beliefs of the defendants would have been those accepted as normal by society at large.
"Now it is the other way around."
John Wadham, from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said when Mr and Mrs Bull chose to open their home as a hotel it became a commercial enterprise.
"This decision means that community standards, not private ones, must be upheld," he said.
"The right of an individual to practise their religion and live out their beliefs is one of the most fundamental rights a person can have, but so is the right not to be turned away by a hotel just because you are gay," he said.
Gay equality charity Stonewall said it was delighted at the outcome.
"You can't turn away people from a hotel because they're black or Jewish and in 2011 you shouldn't be able to demean them by turning them away because they're gay either," its chief executive Ben Summerskill said.
"Religious freedom shouldn't be used as a cloak for prejudice."
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Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Steven Preddy: "Nothing in this judgement attacks the beliefs of Christians"
The owners of a hotel who refused to allow a gay couple a double room acted unlawfully, a judge has ruled.
Peter and Hazelmary Bull, of the Chymorvah Hotel, near Penzance, said as Christians they did not believe unmarried couples should share a room.
Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy, from Bristol, said the incident in September 2008 was "direct discrimination" against them.
They were awarded £1,800 each in damages at Bristol County Court.
"When we booked the hotel we just wanted a relaxing weekend away, something that thousands of other couples do every weekend," the couple said in a statement.
"Because we wanted to bring our new dog we checked he would be welcome. It didn't even cross our minds that in 2008 in Britain we needed to ask if we would be."
'Sincere beliefs' Speaking outside court Mrs Bull said she and her husband would discuss an appeal with their lawyers.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Mrs Bull said the double bed policy was based on their "sincere beliefs"
"We are obviously disappointed with the result," she said.
"Our double-bed policy was based on our sincere beliefs about marriage, not hostility to anybody."
In his ruling, Judge Rutherford said that, in the past 50 years, social attitudes in Britain had changed and it was inevitable that laws would "cut across" some people's beliefs.
"I am quite satisfied as to the genuineness of the defendants' beliefs and it is, I have no doubt, one which others also hold," he added.
"It is a very clear example of how social attitudes have changed over the years for it is not so very long ago that these beliefs of the defendants would have been those accepted as normal by society at large.
"Now it is the other way around."
John Wadham, from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said when Mr and Mrs Bull chose to open their home as a hotel it became a commercial enterprise.
"This decision means that community standards, not private ones, must be upheld," he said.
"The right of an individual to practise their religion and live out their beliefs is one of the most fundamental rights a person can have, but so is the right not to be turned away by a hotel just because you are gay," he said.
Gay equality charity Stonewall said it was delighted at the outcome.
"You can't turn away people from a hotel because they're black or Jewish and in 2011 you shouldn't be able to demean them by turning them away because they're gay either," its chief executive Ben Summerskill said.
"Religious freedom shouldn't be used as a cloak for prejudice."
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