Published: 05:57 PM, 26 July 2017 Last Update: 06:03 PM, 26 July 2017
Same-Sex Couple Rejected by Bridal Boutique Fires Back
A gay couple who was turned away from a bridal store for reasons of “faith” is hitting back on social media.
On July 8, Julie Ann Samanas, 30, and Shannon Kennedy, 34, visited W.W. Bridal Boutique in Bloomsburg, Pa., to purchase Julie’s wedding dress (to match Kennedy’s custom-made tux) for their March 2018 nuptials.
“We arrived for our appointment and were asked to fill out a questionnaire about our budget and the dress, and where it asked for the groom’s name, Julie wrote ‘bride,’” Kennedy, a corrections officer, told Yahoo Style.
According to Kennedy, a saleswoman helping the couple then asked, “Is this for a same-sex wedding?” When Shannon answered yes, the woman replied, “We don’t know if you’ve heard, but we’re Christian and we don’t believe in same-sex marriage. We can’t sell you a dress.”
Stunned, the couple of one year looked at each other. “We were just like, ‘OK…’” says Kennedy. “Then we went to our next dress appointment.”
Later that afternoon, Julie Ann posted about the experience on Facebook. “I’ll gladly take my money somewhere else, when a business won’t allow you to try on wedding dresses simply because you’re gay,” she wrote, tagging the bridal store.
