Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDSPosted on 08/13/2014 4:14:43 PM PDT by NYer
Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
The owner of a bridal shop in Pennsylvania has been forced to close her doors after a lesbian couple launched a social-media bullying campaign in retaliation for the owner’s refusal to service their same-sex wedding.
Breitbart is reporting that Victoria Miller, owner of the W.W. Bridal Boutique in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, said she has had to shutter her bridal shop after a pair of “unidentified” lesbians began attacking her for refusing to sell them wedding gowns.
“We feel we have to answer to God for what we do,” Miller said, according to the New York Daily News. “And providing those two girls dresses for a sanctified marriage would break God’s law.”
The two lesbians then turned to Facebook to launch a campaign of hate against Miller which resulted in having her shop downgraded to one-star reviews and eventually to shuttering it completely. Her shop’s website has gone dark and the status of her shop is listed on Facebook as being “permanently closed.”
In addition, the Bloomsburg Town Council met last night to discuss the incident and decide whether or not to propose a new law that will ban businesses from refusing to serve LGBT customers. If they do so, it will give the lesbian couple grounds upon which to sue Miller.
As a result, Miller has hired an attorney to defend her in the event a lawsuit is filed.
“Obviously, W.W. Bridal Boutique isn’t the only wedding dress shop in town,” writes Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.
“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 story lines are all the same: conform or be punished.”
Perkins goes on to cite the misuse of Scripture being used by proponents of same-sex marriage who wrote on Miller’s Facebook page that “We are taught to love our neighbor regardless.”
“Unfortunately, culturally intoxicated believers like this one have a misguided (and convenient) view of Christ’s calling,” Perkins writes. “Real love doesn’t mean you facilitate people’s desires that are both harmful to them and society. It means speaking the truth in love.”
Even though a recent National Health Interview Survey found that a mere 1.6 percent of respondents in a large survey reported being gay or lesbian, this tiny minority has been far too successful in re-writing American law to suit their beliefs – while trampling upon everyone else’s.
Yup, the store is closed so there’s nothing the Lesbian couple can do under a law thats passed from here on out.
However, I wonder whether the shop owner can file suit against the lesbians. I don’t know about PA, but Virginia has a law against malicious interference in the operations of a business (or something like that).
If PA has such a law it might apply in this case.
Sounds like the shop owner has grounds for suing for commercial disparagement and extortion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.