A trolley company in Annapolis,
Maryland has decided to end its wedding business rather than serve
gay and lesbian couples.
Maryland's gay marriage law –
approved by lawmakers and upheld at the ballot box – takes effect
on January 1.
But Discover Annapolis Tours has
decided to forgo $50,000 in annual revenue. The company's owner,
Matt Grubbs, said he won't compromise his Christian convictions, and
is calling on lawmakers to extend religious exemptions to wedding
vendors.
Derek McCoy, executive director of the
Maryland Marriage Alliance, the group which attempted to repeal the
marriage law, applauded the company's decision.
“That's a bold and noble statement,”
he said. “The other option would have been just to become a legal
case.”
Grubbs confirmed to The
Baltimore Sun that he sent an email to Chris Belkot, a
straight male planning his upcoming wedding in Annapolis, which said,
“We used to do weddings until recently. But we're a
Christian-owned business, and we are not able to lend support to gay
marriages. And as a public accommodation, we cannot discriminate
between gay or straight couples, so we had to stop doing all wedding
transportation.”
“It is your right to run your
business any way you see fit,” Belkot, 31, responded, “but let's
be honest here, you drive a trolley up and down a street. Not
exactly God's work.”
He called the decision “repressive
bigotry.”