Gay couple claims wedding venue cancelled at last minute because owner didn’t ‘support same-sex marriage’
The couple claim they suffered “blatant discrimination and homophobia”. (Envato)
A gay couple have claimed that their wedding venue cancelled on them just two months before their big day because the owner didn’t “support same-sex marriage”.
Kevin Chaffe and his fiancé Ken had provisionally booked Priors Court Barn in the Cotswold for their wedding on March 28.
Chaffe shared a picture of the venue on Facebook, in a post which has been shared more than 1,000 times so far, and wrote: “So our wedding reception venue cancelled on us today because we’re gay!
“He had multiple correspondence with both our names in it… It has been a devastating blow to myself and Ken.”
He added: “There’s not room in this world for this type of blatant discrimination and homophobia.”
According to the Daily Mail, Chaffe claims that the owner of Priors Court Barn, Tim Wiltshire, told their wedding caterer that the couple could “no longer use the venue”.
He added: “We are still upset about the situation – it violates the Equality Act where a business or service provider can not refuse services due to sexual orientation… The message we want to get across is this is not OK.”
Wiltshire, who owns the venue with his wife Bridget, said the incident was a “misunderstanding”.
He told the newspaper: “The venue position – we are legally licensed here for weddings – is that obviously within that licence all couples of the same sex can be married here, but the reservation came through a catering company, I have personal views that don’t relate to the official wedding venue views.
“There was a misunderstanding and we did go back within an hour and a half and say they can come, but by then they’d declined and were looking at somewhere else. It’s grown out of proportion.”
Their wedding planner Kerry Jones has vowed to never work with the venue again. She wrote on Facebook: “A wonderful couple looking forward to their big day have cruelly had their wedding venue revoke their booking purely because the couple are gay.
“This has caused a lot of obvious upset for all involved and as a business we have decided to no longer support this particular venue moving forward.”
Chaffe praised Jones on Facebook for finding them another venue “within the hour”, and said that they would be spending their honeymoon scuba diving in Tenerife.
