B&B owner forced to scrap ‘anti-gay’ advert
Christian taken to court for ‘pro-heterosexual’ website
A CHRISTIAN bed-andbreakfast owner has finally agreed to remove a sign on his website backing heterosexual marriage after equality watchdogs took him to court.
Tom Forrest was previously struck off VisitScotland’s accommodation list for refusing to offer a gay couple a double bed.
But he continued to advertise his business near Kinlochewe, Ross-shire, as ‘heterosexual-friendly’ and displayed a picture with the message ‘Man + Woman = Marriage’.
Several groups complained to the Equality and Human Rights Commisadded: sion in Scotland (EHRC), which applied for a court order to force Mr Forrest, who runs the Cromasaig B&B with wife Liz, to delete the phrases, branding them ‘homophobic’.
Now, three months after the case was first called in Inverness, the guesthouse owner has apparently conceded defeat.
In a statement yesterday, the Commission said it had been ‘concerned that these statements were potentially discriminatory’. It ‘We wrote to the owners asking them to remove these phrases from their website. The phrases were not removed and so the Commission asked the court for an order to require that the phrasing be removed.
‘The owners of Cromasaig have voluntarily removed the phrases and the court action has therefore been halted. Although the case has concluded successfully, the case raises questions surrounding the continued prevalence of homophobic discrimination.’
Lynn Welsh, EHRC’s head of Scottish legal affairs, added: ‘I am pleased the owners of Cromasaig B&B have agreed to remove these phrases. Removing them will have no negative impact on their business and alleviates our concerns.’
Mr Forrest first sparked controversy in 2004 when he turned away two men who wanted to share a double bed – offering them a twin room instead – because his faith does not condone homosexuality. Equality legislation introduced in 2010 outlaws discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.
Mr Forrest once insisted he would ‘rather go to jail than be forced to take gay couples’.
But last night the 70-year-old admitted: ‘I won’t be putting the messages back up. I’ve made the point. I don’t see any point spending money fighting causes.
‘It was a bit of a protest. I put “heterosexual-friendly” up in 2004. It’s taken them this length of time. The whole thing is totally crazy. We’ve never once refused anyone accommodation if we have it.’