Lesbian Couple Told By Wedding Venue Owner That Marriage Is Between A Man And A Woman
Image: Ali Waggy and Jessica Robinson. Image: Facebook
A lesbian couple from Kansas, who were denied their “dream” wedding venue due to the owner’s religious beliefs, have been offered another venue completely free of charge.
Ali Waggy and Jessica Robinson expressed their dismay earlier this month when their excitement about discovering their “dream” wedding venue was met with the disheartening news that the owner’s “deeply-held religious beliefs” prohibited the celebration of same-sex marriages.
The Wichita (Kansas) couple received an unexpected email from the venue’s owner just as they were about to finalise their deposit.
“While our deeply held religious belief keeps us from celebrating anything but marriage between a man and woman, we desire to serve everyone equally and do not want to keep anyone from using our building who would like to,” wrote the venue co-owner, Amanda Balzer.
‘They Are Happy To Take Our Money’
Waggy shared a screenshot of the email on Facebook where she expressed her disappointment at losing her dream wedding venue.
“Imagine going to your dream wedding venue with your fiancé, kids, & parents. A venue you’ve been emailing back and forth with for months now & you finally get to see it in person. Seeing it, falling even more in love with it, deciding it’s it. Your parents coming over & making lists, coming up with plans & then when you email them one last question before asking for a contract; not the person you’ve been emailing, but the owner responds like this”.
Waggy shared that the communication with the owners of the venue had left her crying all night and she described the feeling of being told, “It’s illegal for me to tell you you can’t use it; so you can”.
Waggy criticised The Barn’s venue owners, stating that their correspondence felt like they were happy to take their money but would not be willing to celebrate the couple’s marriage and wanted to “make sure” they knew that.
Couple Offered New Venue Free Of Charge
Ten days later, the soon-to-be bride provided an update on her Facebook page, revealing that they had received an alternative venue free of charge.
Heritage Meadow Estate owner Joy Amore-Bishop offered the couple the venue for their wedding for free after hearing about their homophobic experience.
The standard cost of the location is approximately $18271.24 ($12,000 USD) according to NBC News. In an interview with local outlet KAKE-TV, Amore-Bishop expressed her desire to “overshadow any negativity” surrounding their upcoming wedding.
In her updated Facebook post, Waggy shared that as the story gained traction, she realised it transcended her personal experience and treatment. The goal was to prevent others from feeling “uncelebrated” during what should be “one of the most exciting times of their lives”.
The couple are now able to keep their original wedding date in a new site that Waggy describes as “is even more gorgeous than we could have ever dreamed!”
Waggy thanked owner Amore-Bishop for her generosity and encouraged others to check out her venues in a bid to support “a local business owned by down-to-earth, supportive, caring individuals, who will go out of their way for you”.
“I never thought I would be thankful for the experience we had at the Grace Hill barn.. but it was definitely doing both, protecting us & promoting us to something so so much better. Thanks for being our ‘silver lining’ Joy! We are so excited to be wedding planning again”, Waggy wrote.
