This week was ‘lesbian outrage’ week both on social media and, indeed, in the mainstream press.
Various news sources chose the story of how a lesbian couple were unable to hold their wedding reception at a venue in Stanford as their leading story, totally eclipsing the goings on at Davos and the tragic story of the Parktown High School pupil who drowned during a pupil’s initiation camp at Nyati Bush and Breakaway in Brits.
However, as the need for click-bait over substance ever increases in a media desperately keen to attract readers, a story of horrific victimization against a persecuted minority should never be ignored.
I’ve rather lost track of the correct collective acronym for what is termed the ‘gay community’. It seems to ever expand and I’ve managed to track it to LGBTQIA, but now I notice some news sources are adding a + sign at the end of the row of letters to acknowledge any latecomers who feel that their particular sexual preference or leaning is not covered by the first seven letters, even though the first two appear to be tautology. But maybe somebody patiently needs to explain the technical difference between lesbian and gay to an ageing, white, privileged heterosexual male.
Anyway, the story goes like this. Two ladies who happen to be lesbian want to get married in 2021 (you have to plan these things far in advance) and wanted to hold their wedding reception at a popular wedding venue in Stanford called Beloftebos. A quick check of the Beloftebos website would let you know in no uncertain terms that the owners of this establishment subscribe to what used to be known as Christian principles. So it should have come as no surprise to both Megan Watling and Sasha-Lee Heekes that Beloftebos would not be relaxed about hosting a gay wedding reception. I ran a short poll on Twitter just after the news broke which ran thus:
If you wanted to book a venue that was obviously disapproving of your lifestyle choice and refused to do business with you would you…
Throw a hissy fit 4.6%
Choose another venue 84.5%
Change your lifestyle 1.3%
Laugh it off 9.7%
549 people voted within a period of three hours and the result is hardly surprising. One wonders why Watling and Heekes didn’t just do what 84.5% of my respondents suggested and find another venue. But they didn’t. They were hurt. They felt rejected. They wanted to share their ‘pain’ with as many people as possible, which is why they promptly contacted the mainstream media because they knew the publicity couldn’t possibly do them any harm. Who knows, it could have been a repeat of the great KFC proposal and lots of socially aware corporates might have come forward with piles of cash to sponsor their wedding reception at a more gay-friendly venue.
But, mostly, they wanted to harm the un-woke owners of Beloftebos who appear to rely on some outdated 2 000-year-old teachings to lead their lives.
So the aggrieved loving couple have done what any publicity-hungry young loving couple would do and decided to go to the Equality Court in an attempt to punish the owners of Beloftebos for believing in something called ‘the Bible’ (Google it). Apparently following the teachings of this bestseller contravenes the ‘Constitution and Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act’.
The obvious question is, what on earth is the point? Are they hoping to force Beloftebos to host their wedding reception and, if that happens, do they really think they are going to get five-star service with a smile? Maybe think again, girls. Or are they just striking a blow for the apparently persecuted LGBTQIA+ community? Watling says they are in it for the long run and ‘are prepared to fight the case out in court, even if it took years’. Trust me, Megan, it will take years and it will cost you a lot of money which any amount of crowd-funding will hardly cover.
If the priority is to get married to the love of your life then I would suggest rather choose another venue, spend your money on a slap-up reception rather than on lawyers, and get on with your life. If, on the other hand, you want to fight a gallant battle for the gay community, then maybe move outside SA’s borders and become an activist in a country where gay relationships really are risky. To be absolutely honest, most South Africans couldn’t give a damn what other people get up to in bed. This is a very gay-friendly country and I doubt if even the owners of Beloftebos are particularly bothered about your sexual preference. They just don’t feel comfortable about honouring it in the eyes of their God. To suggest that they have disrespected you is utter tosh and you must know that.
Since we have the right to freedom of worship in SA it’s equally possible that a pair of Satanists might also want to hold their wedding reception at Beloftebos. I suspect that request would also be turned down, but wouldn’t attract nearly as much media attention as your very special and uniquely persecuted interest group.
This is simply a case of who’s rights trump who’s. Can Gay trump God and, if so, what signal does that send to those who subscribe to Christian values? It is an utter waste of court time and nobody can emerge as the winner from such an absurdly woke case.
In 2018, a baker in Colorado refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, citing his religious beliefs. The case dragged on and the Colorado State Court found the baker guilty of unlawful discrimination. However, the US Supreme Court overturned that ruling by a vote of 7-2, saying that the earlier ruling had violated the baker’s religious rights.
The proper outcome for this would be a cordial meeting of the two parties over drinks and an agreement to disagree and go their separate ways, with a Christian blessing on the loving couple for a happy life ahead. But there are a couple of huge egos involved and that’s never a healthy thing.
[Picture: Jörg Bittner Unna, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46496746]
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR
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