February 17, 2012
Britain's Court of Appeal has ordered a pair of Christian innkeepers to pay 3,600 pounds ($5,800) in damages to a gay couple that was told they could not share a room in the couple's guesthouse, the Religion News Service reports. The three-judge panel rejected an appeal by the innkeepers, Peter and Hazelmary Bull, in their conviction of telling Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy they could not share a double room, and told them to pay the penalty. The Bulls had argued that permitting Hall and Preddy to share a bedroom went against their Christian belief that sex outside marriage was a sin, and that they had not discriminated against the couple because of their homosexuality. The Bulls' lawyer insisted their policy was directed toward a sexual practice, not sexual orientation, and argued that the innkeepers were entitled to hold their beliefs.