Gay couple who claim Christian painter refused to decorate their home because of their sexuality reveal reason why they won’t ‘name and shame’ her
- A painter refused to decorate a gay couple’s two-bed terraced house in Bristol
- The painter said she could not do the job due to ‘guidelines’ from her church
A gay couple who claimed a Christian painter refused to decorate their home because of their sexuality have revealed why they won’t ‘name and shame’ her.
Joshua and George, who declined to give their surnames, explained how the tradeswoman sent them a text saying she couldn’t carry out the job due to ‘recommended guidelines’ at her church.
Johsua, 23, said he was ‘gobsmacked’ and ‘seething’ so took to Twitter to tell of his experience, in messages that have been viewed and shared thousands of times.
The couple say they have since made a complaint, which they hope raises awareness of homophobia.
But while many urged them to publicly reveal the identity of the decorator in question, they admitted concerns over doing so on social media.
Joshua and George (pictured) have complained about a painter who refused to decorate their home because of their sexuality
The tradeswoman sent them a text saying she couldn’t carry out the job due to ‘recommended guidelines’ at her church
Joshua told LGBTQ magazine, Attitude: ‘I don’t necessarily feel comfortable holding the doors, and opening the floodgates. I have this person’s details. If I wanted to, yes, I could release them.
‘But to be honest, something that I’m conscious of is, I don’t want to be really the facilitator in what is now 1000s of people who could potentially go to this individual.
‘That individual as much as we don’t respect her does not deserve to be piled on.’
Joshua and his 26-year-old partner wanted their bedroom painted at the two-bed terrace home in Bristol which they bought in June last year.
After finding the decorator online, Joshua asked her round for a quote but noticed her attitude change when he mentioned George.
‘We were in the master bedroom when she asked if my partner was in and I replied ‘No he’s not’ that I first thought something was wrong,’ he told ITV News.
The woman left the property and sent the message hours later, which Joshua shared on Twitter last week.
Alongside a screenshot of the text, he wrote: ‘Just another day in the life of a practising homo – a tradesperson outright refusing to do some painting/decorating because of my sexuality.’
The couple had hired a tradesperson to paint their two bed terraced home in Bristol (pictured, file photo)
The decorator allegedly refused to paint the couple’s house due to being a ‘practising Christian’ (File photo)
The couple have not responded to the decorator but have complained to the website advertising her.
Supporters urged them to sue under the Equalities Act 2010 which bans discrimination due to sexual orientation but they are not currently keen to take such a serious step.
The case comes after a customer lost a seven-year legal fight with a bakery run by evangelical Christians in Northern Ireland which refused to make a cake with the slogan ‘Support gay marriage’.
Joshua said they did not ask for anything political, such as painting a pride rainbow, adding: ‘We just wanted a normal, boring paint job.’
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