A Christian couple and business owners were fined $13,000 and had their appeal rejected after a discrimination complaint was filed, when the couple turned down hosting a lesbian wedding in their venue.
Robert and Cynthia Gifford, owners of Liberty Ridge Farm, filed an appeal to have the court consider their religious beliefs and practices when they turned down the 2013 wedding of Melisa Erwin and Jennie McCarthy. The lesbian couple filed a discrimination complain with the New York Division of Human Rights after being turned down by the venue.
The Liberty Ridge Farm is an outdoor event venue in Schaghticoke, NY that measures an estimated 100 acres. The event venue is operated by Robert and Cynthia, who are devout and practicing Christians.
The Giffords appealed from the state's Division of Human Rights, fighting for their right to practice religious beliefs, but lost that appeal back in Jan. 14, 2015. After losing and being deemed guilty of discrimination of sexual orientation, the company was fined $10,000 plus $3,000 in damages and required to hold re-education classes on LGBT and gay rights.
"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," Judge Karen Peters said in the decision.
The Gifford's legal counsel Caleb Dalton, who is affiliated with the Alliance Defending Freedom, said that the camp looks to make another appeal. "All Americans should be free to live and work according to their beliefs, especially in our own backyards," Dalton said in a post in ADF's website.
The ADF argument is that if governments prohibit forcing individuals to salute the American flag in schools, people of other faiths should be allowed to refuse cooperation in events that contradict their beliefs.
The McCarthys held their wedding receptions at another New York upstate farm.
