The Christian couple who lost their court case in 2011 following their refusal to give a gay couple a room in their B&B have now been forced to sell their guest house, which is also their home.
Peter and Hazelmary Bull have suffered death threats and vandalism since being successfully sued by gay couple Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy.
The Bulls will only allow married couples to share a double bed at their Bed and Breakfast near Penzance in Cornwall because of their Christian beliefs.
Their policy, which applies to heterosexuals and homosexuals alike, has been in place since the business opened, and is well advertised. But as soon as new gay rights laws were introduced in 2007, the Government’s tourism board for England struck the Bulls’ B&B off their approved list. Then in 2011, their refusal to give a gay couple a room led to a court case.
Following all the publicity surrounding the case, the Bulls have received death threats, the B&B and their car have been vandalised, their website has been hacked and replaced with pornography, and recently a dead rabbit was nailed to their fence.
The couple have said the decision to let go of Chymorvah Hotel in Cornwall is like ‘a death in the family’.
Mrs Bull said that they have taken less money this year than when they took over in 1986. The couple say they spent last winter “shivering and hungry” and can no longer make the mortgage repayments.
The Bulls’ appeal to the UK Supreme Court, to be heard next month, is supported by The Christian Institute’s legal defence fund.
Spokesman Mike Judge said: “It’s a chilling view of equality which ends up treating a pair of honest Christians like this. I very much hope the UK Supreme Court introduces a more balanced approach.”
When interviewed on Premier Christian Radio, Mrs Bull was asked if, knowing what she now knows, she would do the same thing again. She replied, “I would rather stand up in court and lose everything than not be able to look the Lord Jesus in the eye when I stand before him.”
Sources – Christian Institute and Premier Christian Radio