The Vermont Human Rights Commission (HRC) has asked to intervene in an American Civil Liberties Union case in support of a lesbian couple who were told by a resort that they would not be able to hold their wedding reception because the resort has a “no gay receptions” policy. If the court were to allow the Wildflower Inn to discriminate against Kate Baker and Ming Lesley, the HRC states that it would be unable to enforce the Vermont Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act, which prohibits denying access to public accommodations based on sexual orientation.
“The state’s action underscores the fact that this is a straightforward case of discrimination,” said Dan Barrett, staff attorney with the ACLU of Vermont. “We’re glad to see that the Human Rights Commission is as concerned as we are about the threat that the Wildflower Inn is posing to Vermont’s non-discrimination guarantees.”
In its answer to the legal complaint, the Wildflower Inn argued that owners of the resort had a First Amendment right to turn away Kate and Ming and asked the court to declare the Vermont Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act unconstitutional.
“The First Amendment does not give public commercial businesses a license to discriminate,” said Joshua Block, staff attorney for the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project. “When a business chooses to opens its doors to the public, it must follow the state’s public accommodations laws and can’t pick and choose which customers it wants to serve.”
For more information on this case, please visit: www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/baker-and-linsley-v-wildflower-inn. For media inquiries, please contact Robyn Shepherd at (212) 519-7829 or 549-2666; media@aclu.org or Dan Barrett at the ACLU of Vermont, (802) 223-6304 x115; agilbert@acluvt.org