Appeal denied in Hawaii gay-bias case

HONOLULU — A ruling by a Hawaii appeals court that a bed-and-breakfast inn discriminated by denying a room to two women because they’re gay will stand after the state’s high court declined to take up the case.

Aloha Bed & Breakfast owner Phyllis Young had argued she should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of her religious beliefs.

When the couple filed a complaint with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, Young told the commission she is Catholic and believes that homosexuality is wrong, according to the appeals court ruling. The commission found that the business illegally discriminated against the couple, who filed a lawsuit in 2011.

The Hawaii Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected Young’s appeal of a lower court ruling that ordered her to stop discriminating against same-sex couples.

Lambda Legal senior attorney Peter Renn, who represents the couple, said the Hawaii high court’s order indicates the law hasn’t changed even after the U.S. Supreme Court last month, in a limited decision, sided with a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. He said “there still is no license to discriminate.”