Two years after they were fined £3,600 for refusing to rent a room to a gay couple, the Christian owners of a British bed and breakfast say they are
closing down due to a plummeting occupancy rate.
They say they have been forced into selling their nine bed hotel for £750,000 because last winter they "were actually shivering and were hungry." But Mrs Bull fears they will be forced to accept much less for it, because their lack of visitors has left them on the brink of bankruptcy. She said: "We were optimistic in the spring. Why wouldn’t we be with the summer ahead of us? We have had a better summer than we thought but nowhere near good enough to pay our way. We were not even half-full. We must have been the only place in west Cornwall that had rooms left." Mounting bills and political pressure has left the Bulls feeling their belief system as well as their business has been demolished. Mrs Bull added: "It was a gradual process; we just noticed more and more that we couldn’t make the mortgage repayments."
While the couple blames their woes on the loss of their "religious liberties" and claims to have received death threats, the above-linked
Daily Mail tabloid notes that internet reviews from recent customers have savaged the hotel for being "unclean and shabby" and for proselytizing to guests. (The front desk was probably the first clue.) Nevertheless, this news will doubtlessly be added to the litany of homofascism claims by American hate groups.
Labels: bigotry, Britain, hotels, religion
