B&B owners lose UK Supreme Court case

The owners of a Cornish bed and breakfast who turned away a gay couple have lost their legal battle in the UK Supreme Court.

Owners, Peter 74 and Hazelmary Bull, 69, said that their beliefs as Christian’s prevented them from renting a double room to civil partners Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall.

Speaking after the appeal Hazelmary Bull said: “We are just ordinary Christians who believe in the importance of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

“Our B&B is not just our business, it’s our home. All we have ever tried to do is live according to our own values, under our own roof.

“These beliefs are not based on hostility to anyone – we certainly bear no ill will to Steven and Martyn. Our policy is based on our sincere beliefs about marriage.

“Britain ought to be a country of freedom and tolerance, but it seems religious beliefs must play second fiddle to the new orthodoxy of political correctness.

Mr and Mrs Bull had been ordered to pay £3,600 in damages to the couple at a hearing in Bristol County Court which ruled turning away the couple was discriminatory.

The bulls also lost their case at the Court of Appeal in 2012.

Five Supreme Court justices ruled against them in today having heard the case in October.

Their legal appeal was paid for by The Christian Institute’s Legal Defence Fund.

Spokesman for the Christian Institue Mike Judge said: “What this case shows is that the powers of political correctness have reached all the way to the top of the judicial tree.

“So much so, that even the Supreme Court dares not say anything against gay rights.”

Gay rights group Stonewall said in a statement: "We are pleased that the Supreme Court has defended the laws protecting gay customers that Stonewall fought so hard to secure.

"Some might suggest that, rather than pursuing this case, a far more Christian thing to do would be to fight the evils of poverty and disease worldwide."