Judge rules against elderly lesbians rejected from retirement home

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NBC News

Judge rules against elderly lesbians rejected from retirement home

Bev Nance, 68, and Mary Walsh, 72, were denied an apartment in Missouri's Friendship Village because their marriage is not "understood in the Bible."

Jan. 18, 2019, 10:12 AM EST
By Tim Fitzsimons

A federal court on Wednesday ruled against a lesbian couple who brought a lawsuit against a Missouri retirement home that rejected the women's apartment application because their marriage is not "understood in the Bible." ... Bev Nance, 68, and Mary Walsh, 72, married a decade ago in Massachusetts and have been in a committed relationship for roughly 40 years.

When they applied to move into the Friendship Village senior living facility, they did so "because it is in their community, they have friends there, and it offers services that would allow them to stay together there for the rest of their lives," said Julie Wilensky, an attorney representing the couple. ... But once Friendship Village staff found that Nance and Walsh are married, they told the couple that they were not allowed to move in, because the home did not condone homosexuality. The letter they received said that the only married couples they accepted were those in unions between "one man and one woman."

The couple sued, alleging "discrimination on the basis of sex," and their case was finally decided this week by a federal court in Missouri, which found "sexual orientation rather than sex lies at the heart of Plaintiffs' claims." ... LGBTQ groups decried the outcome, and the couple's lawyers said "we disagree with the court's decision, and our clients are considering next steps."
....

Judge Jean C. Hamilton, however, provided a different view of the case's merits. ... "At no time do Plaintiffs assert that had they been men involved in a same-sex relationship or marriage, they would have been admitted as residents in Friendship Village," Hamilton wrote in the court's decision. "Under these circumstances, the Court finds the claims boil down to those of discrimination based on sexual orientation rather than sex alone." ... Hamilton then dismissed the women’s claim, noting that the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Missouri and other Midwestern states, ruled in 1989 that existing federal civil rights law “does not prohibit discrimination against homosexuals.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/judge-rules-against-elderly-lesbians-rejected-retirement-home-n960211

---

Hat tip, Joe.My.God:

Court Rules Against Lesbian Couple In Housing Lawsuit Because Their Marriage "Isn't Understood In The Bible"

https://www.joemygod.com/2019/01/court-rules-against-lesbian-couple-in-housing-lawsuit-because-their-marriage-isnt-understood-in-the-bible/

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. Just FUCK

[Mrs. Overall]

2. Horrible.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Indeed. . . . nt

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Another example of the bigotry and hatred still in this country...and they have been together for ..

40 years. Bless them!!

[sakabatou]

5. WTF?

[Recursion]

7. It's a judge correctly applying a horrible law

As long as you discriminate against gay and lesbian couples equally, unfortunately, you aren't breaking housing law. This is why we need an LGBT non-discrimination act in the US.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. The article went on to say (but I had to omit):

....
Hamilton then dismissed the women’s claim, noting that the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Missouri and other Midwestern states, ruled in 1989 that existing federal civil rights law “does not prohibit discrimination against homosexuals.”

The 30-year-old 8th Circuit case Judge Hamilton referenced, Williamson v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, is currently being challenged in court by LGBTQ legal advocacy group Lambda Legal. The group is representing a man whose job offer was rescinded after the company found out he is gay. This case, Horton v. Midwest Geriatric Management, could be decided this year, and if the 1989 precedent is overturned, discrimination against LGBTQ people would become illegal at the federal level in all the states of the Eighth Circuit: North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas.

The Supreme Court is also considering whether to take up one or several appeals court cases that address whether “sex” discrimination bans in federal civil rights law include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. There is currently a patchwork of mismatching laws across the U.S. regarding this issue.

[riversedge]

9. so there is hope of overturing the discrimatory laws. HOPE.

[defacto7]

16. I agree. But my question would be if the SC decides

against LGBT rights does an act of congress override that or would it take an amendment?

[Sgent]

27. I think it fairly certain

SCOTUS would accept a congressional override for most purposes.

If this is a religious organization though, they may not.

[keithbvadu2]

6. Marriage with concubines is"understood in the Bible."

Marriage with concubines is"understood in the Bible."

How about marriage to multiple spouses?

Any other types of marriages?

[volstork]

12. Here, this spells it out rather well:

Warning: NSFW

[keithbvadu2]

14. D'ya suppose they kick out folks on their second marriage where the first spouse is still living?

D'ya suppose they kick out folks on their second marriage where the first spouse is still living?

Jesus said some significant things about divorce and adultery for second marriages.

Trump, Reagan, Gingrich, Guliani?

The sanctity of Holy matrimony for conservative Christians - Kim Davis

[Bradical79]

22. Abraham's bro married his niece...

Abraham married his sister...

Lots of family banging (and raping to).

[Bengus81]

10. But getting your ass spanked by a porn star with a new born kid at home is ok...

My guess Missouri would have NO problem with Trump living at that apt.

[iluvtennis]

11. This is unacceptable. First they came for lesbians, then they

came for gays, then Muslims, then black ppl, then brown ppl, then Asians, then etc etc etc

[keithbvadu2]

15. Then they came for the 'wrong' kind of Christians.

Then they came for the 'wrong' kind of Christians.

[iluvtennis]

19. Exactly

[keithbvadu2]

20. What will they say/do when it is not their version of Christianity in charge?

What will they say/do when it is not their version of Christianity in charge?


http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/americas-true-history-of-religious-tolerance-61312684/?no-ist=;

Madison also made a point that any believer of any religion should understand: that the government sanction of a religion was, in essence, a threat to religion. "Who does not see," he wrote, "that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?" Madison was writing from his memory of Baptist ministers being arrested in his native Virginia.

[treestar]

36. But exactly

these people need someone to otherize. If they got their way, they would soon find a new way to do it.

[EX500rider]

18. Nobody "came" for anybody. n/t

[demigoddess]

13. I won't be going there. I want my time in a retirement home to be interesting,

not restricted by other people's religion.

[turbinetree]

17. A George W. Bush appointee....................the same Goerge W Bush that murdered over

4,685 Americans and thousands of civilians in Iraq based on some fucking lie...............and she does this to two human beings that love each other.........................because she gets into the semantics of sex in a bed and discrimination...............This circuit court is under the Gorsuch "guy" jur is dic tion.....................this will not go well if they appeal, look at what he did to the Natives in North Dakota, they were discriminated, for, well being Natives who wanted to vote.....................

[geretogo]

21. First they came for the lesbians ,then they came for the etc. etc. I feel like I'm in Germany during

the 30's . The Fascist oriented Christians also supported Hitler .

[virgogal]

28. Hardly Germany of the 30s---------that's why

so many people want to come here,we are a decent country---they weren't exactly pouring into Germany in the 30s.

These women have another option---just live someplace else.

[yardwork]

31. That's not necessarily possible. A lot of retirement homes discriminate this way.

The larger question is whether we live in a country that discriminates. Your flippant comment suggests that you would be fine with businesses denying service to other people as well.

[treestar]

37. The odd thing is that their friends/community are there

and that's why they pick it (otherwise sure, who would want to live in such a place that discriminates like that). Maybe the friends they have there already can pressure the owners to accept the couple.

[marehare]

23. Veep's wife works and supports school that discriminates against LGBTQ

The school where Pence's wife teaches also discriminates against LGBTQ. Kids, parents, partners, any family member that's gay will get you a refusal from the school Pence's wife teaches at. Boycott all business that sponsor or support this type of discrimination against American's in our own country. This is licensed institutional discrimination.

[keithbvadu2]

26. Funny that Pence has no qualms about working with/for serial adulterer Trump.

[mpcamb]

24. Take it higher. this won't stand in a decent federal court.

[RhodeIslandOne]

30. No, don't

When it eventually reaches the SCOTUS, the five assholes will use it to change all sorts of shit.

[a la izquierda]

25. Fuck. This.

My mother is a lesbian and if this happened to her, I’d be in prison for murder.
This makes my blood boil.

[pansypoo53219]

29. sharia law by another name. talibornagains.

[GulfCoast66]

32. I can't believe anyone is surprised.

In many states it is legal to discriminate against LGBT folks in housing and employment.

And there is no federal law against it.

Legalizing same sex marriage was not the end of the battle by a long shot. Many states actually made it easier to discriminate as a result of the marriage decision. You know, Christians love and all.



This, like healthcare is a winning issue for us that should be actually worked on.

[WePurrsevere]

33. FWIW, Friendship Villages are owned by a "faith based, not-for-profit" org...

https://www.friendshipvillagestl.com/fv-services-inc.html

FV Services, Inc. is a faith-based, not-for-profit organization devoted to carefree senior living and excellent senior services.

More than 40 years in the making, FV Services, Inc. was born out of a commitment to seniors that began in 1975 with our first retirement community. Incorporated in July 2017, FV Services, Inc. is now the parent organization for a variety of senior services that support body, mind and spirit.

I think they're very wrong about turning away this couple and I think they're very wrong about what the bible taught about same sex marriage. It's certainly not somewhere I'd chose to live out the rest of my life and if I lived there and these women were turned away, especially if they were my friends, I'd find somewhere more accepting to live.

[Vinca]

34. Appeal worthy.

"Christians" do more to alienate people from religion than anything else.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

35. In this specific case I think the judge ruled correctly. The LAW must be changed.

The way they worded their complaint was not going to work under current law.

[Apollyonus]

38. Correct .. sadly n/t

[zanana1]

39. They should sue!

The separation of church and state exists!