Tony Perkins, president of Christian conservative Family
Research Council (FRC), has claimed that the majority of Americans
would support a bridal shop owner who refused to sell wedding gowns
to a lesbian couple.
Victoria Miller of W.W. Bridal Boutique
on Market Street in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania refused to schedule an
appointment for the two brides.
“[P]roviding those two girls dresses
for a sanctified marriage would break God's law,” Miller told the
Press
Enterprise of Bloomsburg.
The incident has prompted the
Bloomsburg Town Council to consider whether to move ahead with an
ordinance which would bar businesses from discriminating based on
sexual orientation.
“Obviously, W.W. Bridal Boutique
isn't the only wedding dress shop in town,” Perkins said in a
statement. “These women could have easily taken their business
elsewhere – but chose to retaliate instead. That's because, at its
core, this isn't about accommodation. It's about forced acceptance.
When religious liberty clashes with homosexuality – as it has from
bakeries to flower shops – the storylines are all the same: conform
or be punished.”
Perkins also criticized city leaders
for considering taking action, calling them “intolerant” and bend
on “avenging” the lesbian couple.
“In Bloomsburg, liberals are so
determined to avenge this couple that they're convening a special
meeting of the city council to consider passing a law that the
lesbians could use to sue. Unfortunately, this intolerance is
exactly what's driving the wave of ordinances that target similar
family business owners in Baton Rouge, Houston, and San Antonio.
Rather than let consumers decide the fate of businesses that don't
concede, the government is dictating marketplace values. When the
people do have a voice, as they're desperately seeking in a marriage
debate that's been hijacked by the courts, they vote on the side of
W.W. Bridal.”