IDAHO: Wedding Chapel Says It Will Close Before Serving Same-Sex Couples
Thousands of couples have tied the knot at the Hitching Post, an institution in Coeur d’Alene right up there with the famous Hudson’s Hamburgers. But the popular wedding chapel across the street from the Kootenai County Courthouse will not perform marriages for same-sex couples, even if that means closing its doors after 95 years in business. “We will not be marrying gay couples here,” said Donald Knapp, an ordained minister along with his wife, Lynn. Knapp said he follows biblical teaching on marriage, as do the other Christian ministers who perform weddings there. “I’m not antagonistic to people of that belief. If that’s what they want to do, they can choose to live together to do the things that they’re doing,” said Knapp, a member of Life Center church in Spokane. “I cannot in good conscience perform same-sex marriages.”Last year Coeur d’Alene adopted a public accommodations ordinance that protects LGBT residents from discrimination. The town's bill exempts religious entities, but the Hitching Post also performs civil ceremonies.
RELATED: While no public accommodation protections exist statewide in Idaho, the towns of Boise, Sandpoint, Ketchum, Moscow, and Pocatello have similar laws to Coeur d'Alene.
Labels: Idaho, public accommodations, religion
