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B&B denies gay couple double room
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 14.40
by Dr Lobster*
BBC News Online wrote:A Highland guest house owner who refused a g*y couple a double room because of their "p*rversion" has been stripped of his recommended status.
Scotland's tourist authority, VisitScotland, has removed the Cromasaig guest house, Kinlochewe, Wester Ross, from its records.
The move came after owner Tom Forrest branded the couple "s*xual d*viants".
Mr Forrest said the "two gents", Stephen Nock and his partner, from London, could only book a twin room.
Mr Nock, 34, and his partner of five years, were told they could not stay in a double room in a guest house because their relationship was "unnatural".
The couple were hoping to stay at the guest house during a four-day walking holiday in the Highlands.
Mr Forrest offered to book the men into a twin room.
When Mr Nock threatened via e-mail to complain to the tourist authorities, Mr Forrest informed him: "We do not have a problem with your personal s*xual d*viation, that is up to you. You are welcome to our twin room if you wish, but we will not condone your p*rversion."
Mr Nock told BBC Radio Scotland: "That is just blatant discrimination, clearly.
"I'm seething with anger. It is shocking that these kind of attitudes still exist and if he's providing a public service then he should not discriminate on the grounds of race or s*xual preference."
G*y groups, who were contacted by Mr Nock, have bombarded the guest house owner with e-mails complaining about his views.
Mr Forrest said that he had replied to the e-mails by saying that he was "shocked" when two males wished to share a double room.
"Basically I pointed out that h*terosexuals, a more natural breed, also have rights; this extending to whom we allow to share a double bed in our home," he said.
Mr Nock claims that he had no response from other B&Bs in the area, leading him to conclude that they hold the same views.
VisitScotland's quality assurance director, Tony Mercer, denied that sections of the Scottish tourist industry subscribed to the same views.
He said: "This is the sort of behaviour that really gives Scotland a bad name. I know a lot of operators are contacting us saying that they wish not to be associated with this sort of behaviour."
VisitScotland stripped Mr Forrest of his listing after he refused to back down.
Gay groups have called for a change in the law to outlaw such discrimination.
what i find most shocking, is most of the callers on radio 2 actually seem to support this stance.
for the life of me, i cannot understand why so many people have such a negative opinion about homosexual relationships. in my own mind, it is no concern to anybody what two concenting adults (male or female) do in any relationships.
however, he, like you and me, is entitled to his opinion, and this is really a tough issue.
does his right not to allow h*mosexuals to share a double bed override the right of h*mosexuals to share a bed in his guest house?
* i also appologise for the number of '*' in certain words, even are filtering system is h*mophobic it seems !
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 14.49
by dvboy
I presume you mean the filtering system wherever you're working... which damn right is homophobic if it won't let you type the words "gay" and "homosexual".
Back to the story, the guy's a twat, but you have to expect this kind of twaddle from people who live out in the middle of no-where for tens of years.
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 15.06
by Dr Lobster*
yeah, it's our filtering at work. the policy is set by our local county council, and there is no way it can be changed because it's done by a transparent 'up stream' proxy which there is no means to by-pass (basically, the proxy behind that will only accept connections from certain addresses etc)
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 15.14
by Martin
Reminds me of the Faulty Towers scene were he won't let the unmarried couple book into the same room.
Funny how the scenarios remains the same as the standards differ.
Re: B&B denies gay couple double room
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 16.42
by DAS
I love this quote...
BBC News wrote:He said: "This is the sort of behaviour that really gives Scotland a bad name."
...as though Scotland is renowned for turning homosexuals away from bed and breakfasts.
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 16.56
by rts
I remember hearing about this a while back. Fantastic news, in my opinion.
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 17.06
by Gavin Scott
If the householder feels that way about gay people then fine.
I'm sorry to say that his attitude is prevalent amongst many from the small towns and Islands around Scotland. Shame, but true.
However; if he intends to open up his house as a business then he is bound by the same anti-discrimination laws that everybody else is.
Would he question an unmarried straight couple? Would he question an 18 year old girl staying with a 40 year old man?
Had I been one of the couple who were refused and insulted in this way I would have done exactly the same thing as these men did - I would take my business elsewhere and I would spread the word for others not to book rooms at a place where the owners sense of right and wrong eclipses his customer service responsibilities, not to mention legal ones.
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 18.21
by DAS
nodnirG kraM wrote:Remember though, it is of course his right to refuse admission to anyone, as he deems fit, however narrow-minded or bigoted the view is. While I'm sure we all agree it is outrageous to class homosexuality as a "perversion", it's remains his establishment where his rules apply; if you don't like them, go elsewhere.
No, because he was a member of VisitScotland, who obviously feel that his policy of expressing those views, and therefore disriminating against customers, do not work with their requirements. If he wasn't a member of VisitScotland then nothing could be done.
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 18.58
by Dr Lobster*
Gavin Scott wrote:I'm sorry to say that his attitude is prevalent amongst many from the small towns and Islands around Scotland. Shame, but true.
if religious leaders acknowledged and accepted homosexual activity as part of 'normal' human behavour, do you think this would have any effect? or do you think that such beliefs are almost hard-coded in people and the bible is used as merely an excuse to hold such views?
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 20.32
by Square Eyes
Not that it should matter but how did the owner of the B&B even know they were a homosexual couple ? Do you have to tick a box to confirm your sexuality before booking a room ?
In my experience, it's not beyond the realms of possibilty that two guys could book one room simply because it's a cheaper option than having two separate.
Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2004 20.56
by Pete
Maybe because they asked for the double and not the twin room.