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Liberty Ridge Farm owners appeal ruling over fines for refusing to host lesbian wedding
Hotair ^ | 10/03/2014 | Jazz Shaw

Posted on 10/03/2014 2:31:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

In the bucolic town of Schaghticoke, NY, Liberty Ridge Farm serves as a setting for family outings and events of all sorts on a family owned farm in the country. They are open to the public for a portion of each year, featuring events ranging from day camps to field trips to a corn maze. And until recently they hosted weddings. That all changed after the owners, Cynthia and Robert Gifford, encountered Melisa Erwin and Jennifer McCarthy, a lesbian couple who approached the Giffords about holding their wedding there. Cynthia Gifford declined, citing her religious beliefs.

The couple tape recorded a conversation with the owners and took their complaint to the New York State Division of Human Rights. Things went downhill quickly from there.

In July, an administrative law judge found the Giffords had discriminated against the couple and ordered fines totaling $13,000—$1,500 mental anguish fine to each of the women and a $10,000 civil damages penalty to the state.

The Giffords didn’t know about the official complaint until a TV reporter showed up to interview them about it.

“There was the reporter and the camera person, and I thought, ‘Oh great, we’re going to get some publicity about our fall festival,’” Cynthia Gifford recalled. “And the reporter asked if we could step away from the customers—I did not understand why.”

The Giffords had to pay the full amount before they could appeal the decision. If they had not paid within 90 days of the ruling, penalties in the amount of 9 percent would have begun to accrue.

Though they paid up, the attorney for the Giffords has stated that they will be “appealing every facet of the judge’s decision” and fighting to see that their religious beliefs are being respected.

This is yet another of the increasingly common cases which could have been avoided entirely with just a bit of common courtesy and mutual respect. Obviously Ms. Erwin and Ms. McCarthy could have found any number of great places to get married other than this farm. (This is New York, after all.) If the Giffords politely told them they would prefer not to host the event, there was no compelling reason that they had to have the ceremony there. But this looks like another case of people looking to stick it to a business owner to turn the situation into a court fight and get the battle flags flying.

From the legal perspective, though, I’m not sure how well the Giffords will fare. From the layman’s point of view, this seems to be a case of religious freedom (not dissimilar in some ways to Hobby Lobby) rather than some sort of gay rights discrimination case. But these types of lawsuits have not gone well in many cases, particularly if you make wedding cakes. And while Liberty Ridge is described as a family farm, it is clearly a business which charges a fee to host many events, including weddings. With the bakery cases as precedents, this may not go well.

In the meantime, things have changed at the farm. Their events page summarizes the change which they felt compelled to make in order to stay true to their beliefs. They still host receptions, but…

Interested in even more information about Liberty Ridge Farm wedding receptions? Please make an appointment to meet with our wedding coordinator and tour the farm’s facilities.

Ceremony – Presently, Liberty Ridge Farm does not host ceremonies on site.

That just sounds kind of sad.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: gaymarriage; homosexualagenda; lawsuit; lesbianwedding; religiousliberty

LIBERTY RIDGE FARM


1 posted on 10/03/2014 2:31:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Jennifer McCarthy (l), Melisa Erwin (r)
2 posted on 10/03/2014 2:32:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind

3 posted on 10/03/2014 2:33:30 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind

A TRADITIONAL LIBERTY RIDGE FARM WEDDING PHOTO



4 posted on 10/03/2014 2:35:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Oh.

My.

God.

Adorable.

.


5 posted on 10/03/2014 2:35:43 PM PDT by Mears
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To: SeekAndFind



6 posted on 10/03/2014 2:36:23 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind

There is no good reason for these abomination (sodomites and lesbians) to force businesses like these to serve them other than to try to tyrannize over Christians. they never, ever do this to Muslim businesses.


7 posted on 10/03/2014 2:38:16 PM PDT by mrsmel (One Who Can See)
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To: mrsmel

I know of three cases in three different states where this ha happened already.

1) The Colorado Baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding

2) A New Mexico Photographer who refused to service a gay wedding

3) Liberty Ridge Farms refusing to host a gay wedding.

Slowly but surely, our freedom of association is being taken away under the guise of civil rights.


8 posted on 10/03/2014 2:41:11 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s my understanding that the Colorado baker got sentenced to “sensitivity training” or some such insanity and is refusing to go. I hope he sticks by it, I’d like to see the outcome if some judge tried to enforce such a thing. That’s no different than Mao’s re-education camps IMO, and I’ll never go to one for any reason, not a job, nothing.


9 posted on 10/03/2014 2:44:34 PM PDT by mrsmel (One Who Can See)
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To: SeekAndFind

Why don’t they start their own Lebo farm.


10 posted on 10/03/2014 2:47:18 PM PDT by jersey117 (sams.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Freedom of Association?

How about private property rights?

I have to respect Target, Starbucks, etc. request that I not carry on their premises, yet businesses who don’t kowtow to deviants are attacked by the state.


11 posted on 10/03/2014 2:49:22 PM PDT by Arm_Bears (Rope. Tree. Politician. Some assembly required.)
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To: SeekAndFind
The couple tape recorded a conversation with the owners

ChaChing!!!!

A paid wedding and lawsuit in the works......what a great country!

If I were an investigator, I would be checking out all the local wedding sites within a 100 mile radius to see if this lesbian couple were actually trolling for a lawsuit.

Specifically, looking for a site that would turn them down and recording all the conversations from those sites.........

12 posted on 10/03/2014 2:52:34 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Don't harsh my buzz homie......)
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To: SeekAndFind
We need to start a 'Christan Business Defense League' to help Christians with these legal BS...

Gays visit your friendly gay owned businesses...next to my office is a gay bakery. The cakes ( no, not the fruitcake owners) smells delicious, but I won't go there.

Oh no, I might get sued FOR NOT patronizing the bakery.

13 posted on 10/03/2014 4:19:44 PM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: SeekAndFind

I know why they are lesbians!!! If they were the 72 virgins, Muslims would be upset.


14 posted on 10/03/2014 4:26:15 PM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: Hot Tabasco

Actually tape recording a conversation without the knowledge of the other party is illegal most places

Counter suit under 1st, 5th, and 14th Amendment protections. I would sue those two fat slobs for no less than $2 million


15 posted on 10/04/2014 6:04:11 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: SeekAndFind
Slowly but surely, our freedom of association is being taken away under the guise of civil rights.

Try "was taken away". Quite explicitly. Forty years ago, in fact.
16 posted on 10/04/2014 2:30:54 PM PDT by highball ("I never should have switched from scotch to martinis." -- the last words of Humphrey Bogart)
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To: Jimmy Valentine
Actually tape recording a conversation without the knowledge of the other party is illegal most places

Unfortunately, New York State isn't one of those places. So long as one of the two parties consent, the recording is legal.
17 posted on 10/04/2014 9:04:01 PM PDT by highball ("I never should have switched from scotch to martinis." -- the last words of Humphrey Bogart)
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