Gay couple reveal they filed a complaint against a Christian painter who ‘refused to decorate his house because of his sexuality’

A gay couple have filed a complaint against a Christian painter who they say refused to decorate his home because of his sexuality.

Joshua and George, who declined to give their surnames, explained how the shopkeeper texted them saying she couldn’t do the job due to ‘recommended guidelines’ at her church.

Joshua, 23, said he was “flabbergasted” and “bubbling” so he took to Twitter to recount his experience, in posts that have been viewed and shared thousands of times.

The couple say they have since filed a complaint with the merchant site where they found his services, which he hopes will raise awareness about homophobia.

But while many have urged them to publicly reveal the identity of the decorator in question, they have admitted concerns about ‘naming and shaming’ on social media.

Joshua and George (pictured) complained about a painter who refused to decorate their home because of their sexuality

The shopkeeper apparently texted them saying she couldn’t do the job due to ‘recommended guidelines’ at her church

The couple say they have since filed a complaint with the merchant site where they found his services, which he hopes will raise awareness of homophobia.

Joshua told LGBTQ Attitude magazine: “I don’t necessarily feel comfortable holding doors and opening the floodgates. I have this person’s contact information. If I wanted to, yes, I could free them.

“But to be honest, something I’m aware of is that I don’t really want to be the facilitator for what are now thousands of people who could potentially go to this individual.

“This person as much as we don’t respect her doesn’t deserve to be stacked. »

Joshua and his 26-year-old partner wanted their bedroom painted in the two-bed terraced house in Bristol which they bought in June last year.

After finding the decorator online, Joshua asked him for a quote, but says he noticed his change in attitude when he mentioned George.

“We were in the master bedroom when she asked if my partner was there and I said ‘no he’s not’ which at first I thought something was wrong,” a- he told ITV News.

The woman then allegedly left the property and sent the message a few hours later, which Joshua shared on Twitter last week.

The couple had hired a tradesman to paint their two-bed terraced house in Bristol (pictured, file photo)

Alongside a screenshot of the text, he wrote: ‘Just another day in the life of a practicing gay man – a tradesman flat out refusing to paint/decorate because of my sexuality. »

The couple did not respond to the decorator but complained to the website on which it was advertised.

Joshua said they didn’t ask for anything political, like painting a pride rainbow, adding: “We just wanted a normal, boring paint job. »

Supporters have urged them to take legal action under the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, but they are currently unwilling to take such a serious step.

The case comes after a customer lost a seven-year legal battle with a bakery run by evangelical Christians in Northern Ireland who refused to bake a cake with the slogan ‘support gay marriage’.

The high-profile controversy began when Gareth Lee, a member of LGBT advocacy group QueerSpace, ordered a £36.50 cake from Ashers Bakery in Belfast, run by Daniel and Amy McArthur, in May 2014.

The couple refused to fulfill the order because they disagreed with the slogan – ‘Support Gay Marriage’ – which was supposed to be drawn in cherry on the dessert, which also featured the Sesame Street puppets , Bert and Ernie.

Daniel McArthur and his wife Amy, owners of Ashers Bakery, pictured in 2018

Belfast bakers refused to bake a cake decorated with the words ‘Support Gay Marriage’ (pictured: a cake with a similar design, made by another bakery)

It sparked a seven-year legal battle that cost Northern Ireland’s Equality Commission £251,000 of public money to support Mr Lee, while the Christian Institute covered £250,000 in costs legal for Ashers Baking Company, which takes its name from an Old Testament. figure.

But in what appears to be a coup de grace for Mr Lee’s case, the European Court in Strasbourg dismissed his claim last year, ruling he should have raised the alleged breach of the human rights convention. man in UK courts – which he didn’t.

In another similar case last year, a gay couple were told they couldn’t buy their dream home in Surrey from a devout Christian couple because of their sexuality.

When they tried to arrange a viewing through internet estate agents Purplebricks, they were turned down and given amazing references to biblical passages of fire and brimstone by the couple.

Luke Whitehouse and his ITV producing partner Lachlan Mantell spotted a £650,000 three-bed semi-detached cottage as they looked to climb the property ladder.

The sellers, builder Luke Main, 33, and his wife, Cambridge University medical physicist Dr Joanna Main, 34, refused to let Luke and his partner even see the house, let alone the to buy, because they were gay.

They quoted passages from the Bible and said they could not sell the house to “two men in partnership”.

Luke Whitehouse and his partner Lachlan Mantell (pictured) have been told they can’t view a property they’ve seen because the owners don’t want to sell to a gay couple

Builder Luke Main (left), 33, and his wife, Cambridge University medical physicist Dr Joanna Main (right), 34, told them they were against selling their home to “two men in partnership”.

The Christians asked Luke and Lachlan to explain their situation. But when it became clear they were in a same- relationship, the booking was canceled by the owners.

Luke, 34, told MailOnline at the time: ‘At first for the first 10 seconds I laughed. I thought it was a joke.

“But then I was upset and angry and cried on the phone with my mum. Homophobia still exists, it is still present. I didn’t see it coming. I was blinded by it.

A Purplebricks spokesperson said: “The sentiments expressed in this post are completely opposed to the views and values of Purplebricks. »

“We have contacted the seller to refund his fees and ask him to sell his property with another agent. »

In 2013, a A Christian couple who refused to let a gay couple stay in a double room at their B&B guesthouse have been forced to sell after losing a lengthy court battle.

Hazelmary and Peter Bull, who run the Chymorvah Hotel in Marazion, Cornwall, also faced death threats for their decision to deny gay couple Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy a room in 2008.

five years later, they said they had no choice but to sell their beloved home and business after failing to attract enough clients and pay their legal costs after high-profile lawsuits On the question.

The Chymorvah, which only allows married couples to share a bed, has also lost its listing with the Visit England hotel database due to its stance against the Equality Act 2007.

And despite a nice sunny summer, they weren’t even half full and I think they were the only hotel in the county “that still had rooms”.

Hazelmary and Peter Bull, who run the Chymorvah Hotel in Marazion, Cornwall, also faced death threats for their decision to deny gay couple Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy a room in 2008.

Hazelmary Bull said she and her husband suffered a campaign of abuse over their same- couples policy

The couple claimed to have received death threats, vandalism and seeing their website corrupted with .

They also claimed to have had the wheel bolts removed from their car and recently found a dead rabbit nailed to their fence all over the question of who they allow to stay in their guesthouse.

In 2011 the couple were ordered to pay civil partners Mr Hall and Mr Preddy £3,600 after being refused a room at the Grade II listed hotel on religious grounds.

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