A Christian couple in New York who were fined $13,000 by a court for refusing to host a gay marriage in their farm because of their religious beliefs have decided not to appeal the ruling.
Robert and Cynthia Gifford, owners of the 50-acre Liberty Ridge Farms in Schaghticoke, were sued by same-sex couple Jennie McCarthy and Melisa Erwin of Albany in 2012 after they declined the couple's request to use the Gifford Farms for their wedding ceremony.
The farm regularly hosts weddings and other events, but when the Giffords learned that their prospective customers were lesbians, they refused, according to the Christian News Network.
McCarthy and Erwin filed a complaint with the New York Division of Human Rights, alleging that the couple discriminated against them in violation of New York's Human Rights Law.
In a decision in August 2014, Administrative Law Judge Migdalia Peres ruled against the Giffords.
"The policy to not allow same-sex marriage ceremonies on Liberty Ridge Farms is a denial of access to a place of public accommodation," the judge said in her decision.
She fined the farm $13,000 including $1,500 for each of the same-sex couple.
Liberty Ridge Farms was also ordered by the judge to provide proof that its owners have trained their employees not to decline requests from homosexuals. A poster saying that the business is subject to human rights law was additionally to be displayed prominently at the farm.
With the decision, the couple decided to close their wedding venue but continued to operate other businesses in the farm so as not to violate their religious conviction.
The couple filed an appeal with The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division but lost in a decision issued last month.
"The Giffords are free to adhere to and profess their religious beliefs that same-sex couples should not marry, but they must permit same-sex couples to marry on the premises if they choose to allow opposite-sex couples to do so," according to a decision by Judge Karen Peters.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the couple in court, said the Giffords have decided "not to appeal the ruling and are evaluating how to best run Liberty Ridge Farms under a legal regime that disregards their convictions."
Legal counsel Caleb Dalton said, "Americans should be free to live and work peacefully according to their beliefs, especially in our own backyards. The government went after this couple's constitutionally protected freedom and their ability to make a living simply for adhering to their faith on their own property."
"[T]hey still feel very strongly about their religious convictions and their right to be able to exercise their religious liberties through their work," attorney James Trainor told the Daily Signal. "It's just unfortunate that the climate is such that our state and the federal government don't allow us to do that."
