A gay couple in Texas was turned away from a wedding venue due to their sexual orientation — just one day before they were set to tour the facility located north of Dallas.
Aaron Lucero, 29, and Jeff Cannon, 48, told the Dallas Morning News they were shocked to receive an email on Jan. 19 from the Venue at Waterstone in Celina informing them that their tour planned for the following day wouldn’t be happening as originally planned.
“Given His plan and design for marriage, we dare not veer from His instruction lest we be guilty of altering what He has set forth,” read the email, written by owner Lyle Wise. “We are a family business. We are also and foremost born again believers sharing His Spirit directing and effecting our consciences. We are not able to violate our conscience without severe ramifications to them and our relationship with Him.”
Lucero said the denial came just after the couple was “on a high” after attending a same-sex marriage ceremony a few weeks earlier at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Dallas, where 15 couples renewed their vows.
“The instant reaction was disbelief,” Lucero told the newspaper. “Like, seriously? It’s 2019. The Supreme Court has already said that gay marriage is legal. What is the issue?”
The couple, who got engaged in June, plans to tie the knot in November, but will need to find a new venue. They’ve been receiving messages of support since the church’s denial, including some from other locations now offering them a tour, according to the newspaper.
“When people are planning their wedding, it should be a happy time full of love and excitement,” Lucero said. “And our journey into wedding planning was quite the opposite.”
Lucero told KXAS that he understands the venue is allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples based on the religious beliefs of the private business owner, but called for the venue to be more upfront about its stance against gay marriage.
“It’s their right to refuse service to us, but if you’re going to do that, at least just be transparent with your policy and put that on your website,” Lucero told the station.
But the snafu has prompted The Knot, a wedding planning website, to remove the venue from its list of approved vendors.
The owner of the venue, however, reiterated his stance in an email to the station.
“We are a family of believers,” Wise told KXAS. “We love all people because Christ first loved us; Jeffrey and Aaron included. We cannot violate the convictions God has placed within us. In love, we would never affirm anyone in something that was to their detriment.”
Lucero, meanwhile, said he and Cannon deserve more transparency, as he canceled two appointments with other venues nearby when the Waterstone rejection email led him to check their policies regarding gay marriage.
“Couples shouldn’t be forced to out themselves to the venues in the hope that their sexuality is acceptable by each and every vendor,” he told McClatchy. “Their policies should be made known either on their own websites, or on their profile on The Knot.”