Remember Jim and Mary O’Reilly, the Vermont innkeepers who were sued for refusing to host a wedding reception for a lesbian couple and settled out of court in August? Well, they’ve surfaced again in Maine, where proponents of marriage discrimination have just released an ad in which the couple claims that for them, marriage equality in Vermont means that the only way they’re able to stay true to their anti-gay religious beliefs is to not host any weddings at all. Watch:
The ad hopes to scare Mainers into opposing Question 1, the ballot initiative that, if passed, would reinstate a marriage equality law that was overturned in 2009.
Of course, the claims made in the ad are completely false, as the O’Reillys were sued under Vermont’s Human Rights Law, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation. Vermont’s Human Rights Law is totally separate from its marriage equality law, but Question 1 opponents in Maine are hoping that viewers will overlook that little inconvenient truth.
Proponents of marriage discrimination resorting to outright lies in the service of their anti-freedom, anti-equality agenda? I wouldn’t expect anything less.
By the way, the O’Reillys own the Wildflower Inn & Family Resort in Lyndonville, Vermont. If you’re coming to visit our beautiful, LGBT-inclusive state, I recommend you skip the Wildflower Inn and take your business to one of Vermont’s many LGBT-friendly establishments instead.
