Store refuses to sell wedding dress to lesbian bride

Jessie - posted on 11/18/2011

I love that this article starts out with a fleeting reference to what was then, Kim Kardashians upcoming wedding. I would imagine that this poor women's commitment to her partner lasted longer then Kim's nuptials. Also, I can't quite understand why a bridal gown business wouldn't love the idea of two females getting married. Wedding gowns are expensive. Talk about profits! lol. Seriously, though, I think even most people who are against same sex marriage would find this shop owner's actions egregious. Some opinions are better kept to yourself, a lesson I am sure this woman will learn.

Diane - posted on 11/08/2011

Not the shop owners business WHO is getting married ! However it is her shop and they can always buy somewhere else that their business is encouraged and appreciated! Still alot of bigotry out there from lack of education and understanding.

Schmoopy - posted on 11/08/2011

Of course they should sell a dress to this bride without issue or comment!



If restaurants in the 1960s were subject to sit-ins and later required under law to serve EVERYONE, no matter their color, it stands to reason that a wedding dress shop would be subject to the same laws. Retail stores are there to serve the community, not to issue moral judgment.



By the way, if you look back at the arguments against equal rights for African Americans, you'll see some disturbing and shameful similarities to the ones being made against Homosexuals. In another 50 years, shops like this one are going to be laughed at.



P.S. Congrats to your sis.

Rosie - posted on 11/07/2011

well, in the state of new jersey she doesn't have the right to refuse service to someone based upon their sexual orientation. what a fucking twit. i hope her business tanks.

Victorya - posted on 11/06/2011

I hate it when people try and use their "rights" to hurt people. This is ridiculous!

Jen - posted on 08/30/2011

If I owned a bridal shop and refused to sell dresses to black women or to Christians, the media and the puplic would destroy my business but when it's a gay person - well that's the person's RELIGIOUS beliefs and that's usually enough for people to let it go.

sad.

Krista - posted on 08/27/2011

It IS actually illegal, Jennifer. And rightly so.

Boycotts and letting the free market decide...well, that only works when a) there's competition and b) you have support.

Now let's say our lesbian lived in a town with only one bridal shop, and the rest of her community didn't give a fiddler's fart about gay rights. Would the business owner suffer any negative consequences for her discriminatory actions? Nope.

That's why anti-discrimination laws do need to be in place. Because we can't always rely on karma.

Jennifer - posted on 08/27/2011

I'm not sure it's illegal, and, honestly, I'm not sure it should be.......But please hang on before bashing me..............
This bride is not doing anything wrong by buying the dress, and the business owner is truelly only hurting herself. Let the bride tell her story loud and long! There are enough people who will boycott and demostrate at that store it will be hit in the pocket book, and that is if she doesn't have to close down!

I know this because back in the 70's many businesses still refused service to blacks, illegally, but the law wouldn't do anything. So locals banned together, and started protesting, the story went nation wide. Most of those business are defunk, and the former owners either moved, or ended up broke and disliked. I personally like a little more action than 30 days in jail. If you want more info on what I'm talkin about, look up DooDoo park, Lawton Oklahoma

Krista - posted on 08/27/2011

Actually, the shop owner WAS acting illegally:

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) makes it unlawful to subject people to differential treatment based on race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy), familial status, marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, liability for military service, and mental or physical disability, perceived disability, and AIDS and HIV status.

So she's ignorant of the law, hateful, and has no business sense.

Sherri - posted on 08/26/2011

Honestly why would she want to support a business that would treat her soo badly. Go give her business to someone who deserves it.

Horribly wrong even if it isn't illegal.

Toni - posted on 08/25/2011

What a horrible woman, it saddens me to know there are still people out there like this. It shouldn't matter what the dress is being brought for, a bride wanted a dress. She is getting married to the love of her life and that is what matters, why can't people see that.

Kate CP - posted on 08/24/2011

Probably not, Johnny. People suck. :(

Johnny - posted on 08/24/2011

I do not know the laws where she operates her business. It may well be legal to discriminate where she is. Where I live, she would have been brought before our Human Rights Tribunal and definitely would have lost. Although, her business probably would have been boycotted to such an extent that it would have just been an additional slight after she filed for bankruptcy. I wonder if people will ever stop being such horrible, hateful bigots?

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 08/24/2011

Some bloggers are arguing that this is discrimination. You can't (well you're not supposed to be able to) discriminate based on age, sex, race, etc. I feel like sexual orientation falls into that category, but I know some people just don't care. Rebecca, it's not illegal to have a ceremony. The couple is just not recognized as married by law because the law doesn't recognize same sex marriages (except in New York). So two women buying wedding dresses and walking down the aisle to profess their love and commitment to one another is not illegal. They just can't get the benefits that heterosexual married couples can, like health insurance.

Jurnee - posted on 08/24/2011

I agree with Krista! May not be illegal but still wrong. Hope she loses a lot of business for this.

Krista - posted on 08/24/2011

As a private business, she has the right to refuse, I think. But the bride also has a right to tell her tale far and wide, and to encourage everybody to boycott that store. :)

So I don't know if what the shop owner did was illegal...but it certainly wasn't a good business decision.

Rebecca - posted on 08/23/2011

okay so if it was an illegal thing to have a wedding between to women yes she is fully within her right to refuse in "illegal activity" (The law is absolutley ridiculous and she was probably protecting her own ass) but if it is legal for them to have their ceremony and there is no law against it then she is just plain rude and has no right to refuse a customer based on her own beliefs

JuLeah - posted on 08/23/2011

Hate is hate. Shop owners have and sometimes still refuse to sell to people of color, people of other religions .... hate is hate