A lesbian couple says that they were
disappointed when a “one-stop shop” wedding planner refused to
marry them.
Crystal Allen and Kenyata White told
local Phoenix, Arizona media that after choosing a wedding package at
AffordableWeddingMinister.com and speaking to Susan Latimer, an
ordained non-denominational minister through Christian
Glory Church, they received an email from Latimer saying she was
unable to perform the ceremony.
“When I talked to her over the phone,
I've always said 'my fiancee,'” White explained.
In an email to Latimer on Sunday, White
for the first time indicated her fiancee was a woman.
“We are very uncomfortable with
same-sex marriage as it is directly against our beliefs,” Latimer
wrote in a response the following day. “We would not be a very
good fit.”
As ordained ministers, Latimer and her
husband Al, who together operate AffordableWeddingMinister.com, are
exempt from Phoenix's gay-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance.
When approached for comment by The
Arizona
Republic, Latimer said that she was opposed to marriage
equality.
“No matter what I say to you, I
believe it will be twisted by the media,” she wrote. “By the
stroke of one federal judge's pen, we are being dictated what the
state says moral law should be. This goes directly against God's
laws and 80% of Arizona voters in 2008.”
(Arizona's restrictive marriage ban was
approved with a narrow margin, 52%.)
“There is a war on those who believe
in Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit and the Word of God,” Latimer
continued. “Why is my freedom being taken away? I feel same-sex
marriage is wrong and have every right to have feelings just like
they do. I wouldn't want someone who is opposed to the way I live my
life involved in my marriage ceremony in any way.”