Yelp Removes 1257 Reviews Of Bridal Shop That Refused To Sell To Lesbian

Yelp, a popular online user-​reviews search site, has removed 1257 reviews of the New Jersey bridal shop that refused to sell a wedding dress to a lesbian bride because she’s a lesbian. The Somers Point, NJ shop, Here Comes the Bride, reportedly told Alix Genter, who is engaged to be married next July, that she would not sell her a bridal gown because Genter’s pending same-​sex marriage was, in Saber’s view, an “illegal action.”

READ: Bridal Shop Refuses Lesbian Bride – Gets 391 Negative Yelp Reviews

While it turns out that the store’s manager, Donna Saber, who reportedly is the one who decided to turn down Genter’s business, may have committed an illegal act, Yelp decided to play by the rules and remove all 1257 reviews, regardless of number of stars, on the basis of “personal experience,” not personal belief. In other words, if you didn’t have personal contact with the shop, you cannot write a review on Yelp:

As tNCRM wrote last week, CNET’s Chris Matyszczyk reported, “Yelp’s content guidelines state: “Reviews aren’t the place for rants about a business’s employment practices, political ideologies, extraordinary circumstances, or other matters that don’t address the core of the consumer experience.”

Fair enough, right?

Well, unsurprisingly, the New jersey shop, Here Comes the Bride, is left with only a two-star review.

Let’s remember that in New Jersey, four out of five voters have opted for legal recognitions of same-​sex unions, and voters prefer same-​sex marriage 47% – 42%.

Think of all the lost business Here Comes the Bride has lost, and will continue to lose. Today we learn that 25% of all marriages registered in New York since the new marriage law went into effect last month, have been for same-sex couples. That’s a lot of taffeta Here Comes the Bride is not selling. In this economy, well, wow. Just wow.

But this isn’t an issue about “morality,” mind you.

If the shop owner didn’t believe in abortion, did she poll her bridal customers on whether they did, or if they used birth control, or, even, if they had pre-maritial sex? Can you shop at Here Comes the Bride only if you’re a virgin?

Enough said.