Liberty ridge farm gay wedding
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A lesbian couple urged the New York State Division of Human Rights Wednesday to rule that an upstate wedding venue broke the law when it refused to book their wedding last year.
Melisa and Jennie McCarthy, formerly of Albany, filed the complaint against Liberty Ridge Farm outside Albany in October They're asking for unspecified damages and an command telling the farm not to reject customers based on sexual orientation.
Attorneys from the New York Civil Liberties Union argued Wednesday before the Division of Human Rights that the acre farm is a business open to the public and subject to the state's anti-discrimination laws.
"We are asking for some damages. We are not asking for very much," NYCLU attorney Mariko Hirose said.
More important is an anti-discrimination order to the wedding venue in one of the first such cases since New York legalized same-sex marriage in June , Hirose said afterward. She and the couple, who married in August at another farm in upstate New York, said they expect to pursue the case in an appeal to the courts should they
Wedding Venue’s Ongoing Battle to Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples Must End
“We were so adj when we found Liberty Ridge that we called our mothers and told them we knew where we were getting married,” said Jennifer McCarthy. “When we were rejected for being a same-sex couple, beyond losing what we thought was the perfect venue, I felt judged and dismissed for who I was and for my relationship. Nobody should feel like that.”
“It is difficult to describe how heartbreaking it is when someone says to you that, because you are marrying someone of the same sex, you cannot have the options that heterosexual couples have,” said Melisa McCarthy. “We will do whatever we can to make sure that no other couple has to deal wit
Victory: Wedding Venue Cannot Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples
&#;We are so thrilled with the news we received today,&#; said Jennifer and Melisa McCarthy in a joint comment. &#;This decision not only recognizes how discrimination has affected the two of us, it also helps to shield others from being targeted by the same type of discrimination. We are pleased that this complicated experience has been proficient to set further precedent that discrimination is unacceptable, and grateful that going forward other couples will be less likely to have the joy of their wedding planning tarnished by discrimination.&#;
The McCarthys were delighted to find what they thought was the wedding venue of their dreams when they discovered L
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Case Analysis
Case Summary and Outcome
An LGBT+ inquired about getting married at a farm in upstate New York, Liberty Ridge Farm. The farm&#;s owners, Cynthia and Robert Gifford, refused to verb the couple marry at their farm and cited religious reasons for this refusal. An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) from the New York Division of Human Rights ordered that the farm&#;s owners verb $ to each of the Plaintiffs and $10, to the State of New York in restitution for violating New York law.