A recently engaged lesbian couple has
shared their experience of being discriminated against by a North
Carolina wedding venue.
Kasey Mayfield and Brianna May shared
on Facebook an email exchange with the venue, The Warehouse on Ivy in
Winston-Salem.
“If you're wondering how wedding
planning is going … thanks so much to The Warehouse on Ivy for
letting us know we're not welcome,” May captioned a photo of the
exchange.
In the exchange, Mayfield mentions the
“other bride” and the venue responds that it does “not host
same-sex marriage ceremonies.”
Speaking with NBC
News, Mayfield said that the venue's response left her
“speechless.”
“I had hoped that this wouldn't
happen in North Carolina, but I thought there was a chance it may,”
Mayfield, 25, said. “I didn't expect it from a venue in
Winston.”
The couple, who met on the dating app Bumble, got
engaged last month after more than two years of dating.
In an email exchange with NBC News, The
Warehouse on Ivy said that they “love and respect everyone in our
community” and “strongly believe in our Christian values.”
In 2016, North Carolina lawmakers
approved House Bill 2, which prohibited local municipalities from
enacting anti-discrimination ordinances. Passage during a one-day
special session led to boycotts against the state. A compromise bill
signed by Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, enacted a moratorium on
local LGBT ordinances until December 1, 2020.
A federal bill that would extend LGBT
protections cleared the House earlier this year but stalled in the
Republican-led Senate. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to make
the bill a priority in his administration.
(Related: In
reiterating vow to pass Equality Act, Biden reminds voters that Trump
opposes the bill.)
Without federal, state, or local public
accommodations protections, businesses in North Carolina are free to
discriminate against people who identify as LGBT.
May, 29, said that the couple has
received “kind and encouraging words” in response to their
Facebook post.