A lesbian couple takes the venue owners to court for not allowing their wedding there!

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: shahid | In controversy , Married

The well-known event venue in question is Beloftebos in South Africa.
Its owners have strong Christian beliefs.
Hence they disallowed a same-sex wedding to happen at the venue.

But the lesbian couple who refused the wedding venue is now taking them to court on grounds of discrimination.

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Lesbian couple and venue issues

Megan Watling, 25, and her fiancee Sasha-Lee Heeks, 24 had a dream to wed at the famous event venue called Beloftebos. But when they approached the owners of Beloftebos to rent it, the owners refused to give it to them for their wedding though the place was, free on the day of their marriage.

The owners are staunch supporters of Christian beliefs and did not want a lesbian couple wedding on it. They refused the couple the venue based on their sexual orientation. The lesbian couple is furious and sad about this denial from the owners.

Lesbian couple’s court case

But the same-sex couple is not put down by the refusal from the venue owners. But they are now planning to take the venue owners to court on grounds of discrimination.

The couple issued a statement on Thursday 23 January 2020. It read:

“In the next few, weeks, we are instituting action against them in the Equality Division of the Western Cape High Court.”

They are taking the help of the South African Human Rights Commission to fight the injustice. They add that the matter concerned deals with human rights and equality.

Sasha-Lee said:

“Our focus is now turning to this legal case because its outcome, which might end up in the constitutional court, is an important one not just for the LGBTQIA+ community but for anyone that exists on the margin. For anyone who has experienced unfair discrimination,”

More about the incident

The lesbian couple had done an inquiry via email about renting the place for their wedding in April 2021. The owners of Beloftebos Wedding Venue which is two hours’ drive from Cape Town replied that they do not allow same-sex weddings because of their Christian beliefs.

Megan said:

“When we got the email initially I was really really hurt. I cried because I feel like it invalidated our love. I’d finally come to a point where I had accepted who I was,”
“We were basically told that because we’re a same-sex couple they can’t host us because that means that they will go to hell.”

The venue had turned down Alexandra Thorne and Alex Lu in 2017 for the same reason. South Africa has made gay marriages legal since 2006.

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Michael Swain, spokesman for Beloftebos and director of Freedom of Religion South Africa stated that it is not fair that the owners be forced to rent their place for something they do not believe in. He added that they are ready to allow the same-sex couple other events in their life such as a birthday party. But for a wedding, it is a no-no.

Source: New Straits time

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