When two Pennsylvania businesses declared that they would refuse service to gay and lesbian customers, it was only a matter of time before anti-LGBT activists rose up to defend the businesses’ discriminatory actions. One Pennsylvania bridal shop refused service to lesbian customers because the shop’s owner said it would “break God’s law,” and the owner of the Inne of the Abingtons similarly refused service to a lesbian couple.
As a result, the bridal shop’s Yelp page and the Inne’s Yelp page have received an uptick in reviews, many critical of their discriminatory behavior against LGBT customers, making Religious Right activists Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council angry because people are giving the businesses negative reviews.
It seems they believe these vendors should be immune from criticism for their actions.
Staver said on his radio commentary “Freedom’s Call” that the Inne of the Abingtons has been “attacked with false reviews” because of the owner’s religion.
Perkins, meanwhile, blasted the lesbian customer who was refused service at the bridal shop as “intolerant” and said the shop’s owner was simply “speaking the truth in love.”: “Instead of showing the tolerance their movement claims to practice, the women turned to social media to bully the shop — trashing its online reviews and sparking a city-wide firestorm.”
At W.W. Bridal Boutique, it isn’t unusual to see two women shopping for wedding dresses. What is unusual is two women shopping for wedding dresses for the same ceremony. That’s the predicament Victoria Miller found herself in as the owner of the Pennsylvania shop. When a lesbian couple contacted the store for an appointment, Victoria explained that she couldn’t help the women find gowns for a ceremony that violates her Christian faith. Right now, an employee explained, the Bloomsburg store doesn’t service same-sex weddings.
Instead of showing the tolerance their movement claims to practice, the women turned to social media to bully the shop — trashing its online reviews and sparking a city-wide firestorm. Miller, whose orthodox beliefs are in the bulls-eye, isn’t backing down. “We feel we have to answer to God for what we do,” she told reporters, “and providing those two girls dresses for a sanctified marriage would break God’s law.”
…
Back in Pennsylvania, Victoria Miller continues to be a target. “As a fellow Christian, I’m ashamed of people like you,” one commenter wrote. “We are taught to love our neighbor regardless.” Unfortunately, culturally intoxicated believers like this one have a misguided (and convenient) view of Christ’s calling. Real love doesn’t mean you facilitate people’s desires that are both harmful to them and society. It means speaking the truth in love.
