BRITISH COLUMBIA: Couple Shuts Down Bed & Breakfast Rather Than Serve Gays

A Christian couple in Grand Forks, British Columbia has decided to close their bed and breakfast rather than face additional charges of discriminating against gay customers.

"We've been harassed so bad we're not running (the B&B)," said Lee Molnar, who lives with his wife Susan in the B.C. community of Grand Forks. Their lawyer Ronald Smith said they are "devastated" but also feel they can't continue to operate Grand Forks Riverbend Bed and Breakfast for fear they will be asked again "to violate their religious beliefs" by renting to a gay couple. Smith is representing the couple in a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal case scheduled to begin Wednesday, but it was postponed. "They're just a retired couple in Grand Forks who thought they would open their home to guests and here they are in the centre of a firestorm," Smith said. "They're a lovely couple. They don't want to be thought of as discriminating, but they're Christians who don't feel they can violate their religious beliefs."

Last year Shaun Eadie and Brian Thomas attempted to book a room, but were called back and told "this won't work out" after they confirmed to the owners that they are gay. The owners plan to argue in court that under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, "they have the right to decide what kinds of behaviours take place in their home."