Imagine being told by a wedding planner that they don’t feel comfortable planning your wedding, because of whom you’re marrying.
How would you feel if you went to your local gas station and were told they don’t change oil on cars owned by gay people? What if your local house remodeling company said they wouldn’t renovate your living room because you’re Black? Or what if your neighborhood restaurant said once you turn 50 they would no longer serve you?
Preposterous, right?
What if you were getting married and shopped around for a wedding planner, only to get this email in response:
“After checking our booked events I have discovered that we are booked on the 30th & 31st and unfortunately are not able to take additional events for the weekend. Also, due to my strong personal belief I do not feel comfortable planning a wedding for lesbian couples. I hope you understand and not take this personally. I am really sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.”
Melissa McCord, who married as soon as the law would allow in Florida this month, wanted a more formal wedding, but when she got that letter from Simply Elegant Wedding Planning, she says she did take it personally, and posted it to Facebook.
“That was the first time I had ever to my face been discriminated against and it was kind of hurtful,” McCord says.
“I understand that they may be hurt, but there are other wedding planners who are ok with doing this,” Lana Rusev, who owns the family wedding planning business, told First Coast News. “Take your business elsewhere.”
Now, Rusev just doesn’t understand why she’s getting attacked on Facebook.
“This takes me back to about 26 years ago when my family and I fled from a country that persecuted people for their belief,” Lanev, who is a Christian, says. “I believe people should be able to choose how they live their life,” Rusev adds. “But for me because of my personal belief I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman.”
McCord suggests that Rusev could have ended the email after “we are booked.”
“Just send me an email and let me know you were overbooked,” she says. “Don’t throw your belief in my face that you won’t do it because of what we are. My money is just as green as everybody else’s.”
On Facebook, Rusev adds, “Planning a wedding for couples is very personal to me. Its not a product that I sell over the counter, its a service that i provide with a passion.” [sic]
ThinkProgress notes that the “Family Research Council has already come to Rusev’s defense, citing her as another victim of LGBT equality.”
Same-marriage “sure impacts their family when they’re fined, forced out of business, or lose their home simply for following their moral conscience,†the hate group wrote. Of course, the very laws these discriminating businesses are being fined under are the nondiscrimination protections that ensure LGBT people cannot be fired, evicted, or refused service just because of their identities — a history of actual persecution that is far more substantial.
Jacksonville does not have any such protections; the City Council rejected them in 2012 by a vote of 17-2. This means that McCord and her family have no legal case to make against Rusev.
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