Saying "I do," but not there
Liberty Ridge Farm in Schaghticoke -- a farm, events, and general fall agritainment venue -- told a lesbian couple it couldn't get married there because it doesn't host same-sex marriages, reports WNYT. Kristi followed up with one of the farm's owners, who told her: "I just felt uncomfortable. Maybe I made a mistake in my initial response to them." Update: Here's the longer story from WNYT's Abby Bleck. [WNYT] [TU] [WNYT]
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Comments
I'm super-sad to learn about my beloved Liberty Ridge standing up for discrimination, but your use of the word "agritainment" is almost enough to make it all better. ALMOST.
... said SiobhanGK on Oct 17, 2012 at 2:57 PM | link
I'm just pleased that these ladies filed a complaint and notified the media. I like to vote with my money, and I can unequivocally say that I won't be giving a cent to Liberty Ridge.
... said abby on Oct 17, 2012 at 6:33 PM | link
For the record, I *am* the Abby who broke this story. I am *not* the Abby who wrote, "I'm just pleased that these ladies filed a complaint and notified the media. I like to vote with my money, and I can unequivocally say that I won't be giving a cent to Liberty Ridge.
... said abby on Oct 17"
... said Abigail Bleck-WNYT on Oct 18, 2012 at 9:51 AM | link
If Pat Robertson and the owner of Chik-Fil-A wanted to host a fundamentalist Christian wedding at Bombers, I think Matt should be able to tell them to f**k off. Same rule applies here.
... said Applejack on Oct 18, 2012 at 9:55 AM | link
@Applejack - I'm no lawyer, but it would seem that so long as Mr. Baumgartner doesn't let any other paying customers hold weddings there, he's totally within his rights to do so.
You can be anti-wedding. But if you are a business that serves the public in New York, you just can't discriminate against people because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, yadda yadda yadda.
... said Daniel B. on Oct 18, 2012 at 12:23 PM | link
I'm no lawyer either, but what if the Hells Angels or the KKK wanted to hold a function/wedding at that farm - could the owners deny them?
... said Gerald on Oct 18, 2012 at 12:34 PM | link
@Gerald - I guess that depends. Are violent bikers and hateful racists protected classes in New York?
... said Daniel B. on Oct 18, 2012 at 1:14 PM | link
Let me rephrase for Daniel, a.k.a. Captain Literal: if Pat Robertson and the owner of Chik-Fil-A wanted to host a fundamentalist Christian benefit dinner at Bombers, I think Matt should be able to tell them to f**k off. Same rule applies here.
As I said on another blog - yes, the law says that gay marriage is legal and that businesses can’t discriminate based on sexual orientation. Personally I feel that anyone should be able to marry anyone, I fully support a gay couple’s right to get married if they want. But I think in some cases such as this, the legal “right to public access” results in the business owner’s private rights being violated by allowing a complainant to punish the refusing party for having an opposing view. There is no “victim” here; there are countless other venues whose owners would be happy to host these folks.
Again, I support gay marriage 100%. And I don’t think suing this business for disagreeing with gay marriage is right, in fact I think it’s disgraceful.
... said Applejack on Oct 18, 2012 at 1:18 PM | link
Applejack said:
"the legal “right to public access” results in the business owner’s private rights being violated by allowing a complainant to punish the refusing party for having an opposing view."
A private person can legally hold whatever views s/he wishes.
However, if that private person runs a business, s/he has to comply with business laws. In this case, the law says that a business cannot discriminate with regard to gender etc.
... said nunu on Oct 18, 2012 at 3:04 PM | link