Scotland: Sweetstation Carts owner accused of refusing service for a gay couple’s wedding
The owner of the Scottish confectionery company Sweetstation Carts has been accused of refusing to provide service to a same-sex couple for their marriage celebrations.
According to Sosogay, Linda O’Malley reportedly told a gay couple she wouldn’t provide a sweet cart for their reception because she opposes same-sex marriage.
Steven and Liam wrote in a tumblr blog that Mrs O’Malley, whose husband is a pastor at East Gate Church in Elderslie, said it would be “hypocritical” to accept their business after lobbying against equal marriage laws.
In the blog, Steven wrote: “I have been with Liam for six and a half years and, when we decided to get married, we were filled with excitement and have been enjoying getting it all organised.
“One of our ideas was to hire a candy cart for the party and Liam knew a company that offered this service for weddings, so he contacted them about it.
“This is when our excitement turned to pain.
“Sweetsation Carts initially said they were available and gave us details on pricing, which we were really excited about as the cart looked amazing, as did the sweets, and we were telling all of our friends and family about it.
“However, when we contacted the company again to ask about paying a deposit, we didn’t hear back.”
Steven said he eventually got a response from Sweetsation Carts to say his order wouldn’t be accepted on the grounds of “strong Christian beliefs.”
He added: “We couldn’t quite believe what we were reading. We had to check to make sure it was still 2014 and we somehow hadn’t gone back in time.
“We replied, stating that they surely must know it was against the law to deny us a service based on our sexual orientation.
“If they don’t believe in gay marriage, then they are entitled to their opinion, but these beliefs do not overrule the law.
“We have friends and family who are religious and none of them agree with what this company has done to us.
“Organising your wedding is supposed to be full of excitement and happiness and, unfortunately, Sweetsation Carts has ruined that for us.”
Following online backlash, Sweetstation Carts’ website and Facebook page have since been taken offline.
Linda O’Malley’s Twitter account has also not updated since February.
