RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina venue denied a same-sex couple a chance to have a wedding there, citing its "Christian values."
Backlash erupted online over the weekend after a screenshot posted to Facebook appeared to show the rejection from The Warehouse on Ivy, an event center in downtown Winston-Salem.
"As we would love to have you at our venue, unfortunately we do not host same sex marriage ceremonies," the center wrote in an email to the couple, according to the post. "We do appreciate you considering us."
A Facebook user named Brianna May shared the screenshot Saturday with the caption: "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."
In response to McClatchy News' request for comment about the screenshot, The Warehouse on Ivy shared an emailed statement Monday morning.
"We will allow anyone of any color, race, religion or belief to use our venue at any given time," the statement said.
"Although we love and respect everyone in our community, there (sic) own decision making and beliefs, we also strongly believe in our christian values."
North Carolina is one of 27 states with no "explicit statewide laws" offering protection from discrimination against the LGBTQ community, according to the website for the nonprofit Freedom for All Americans.
"The wedding venue is free to discriminate on the basis for sexual orientation in North Carolina," Rick Su, professor of law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, wrote in an email to McClatchy News.
Until Dec. 1, House Bill 142 prohibited local governments in the state from enacting anti-discrimination ordinances, The News & Observer reported. While Su said none of North Carolina's cities or counties has put those protections into effect, some LGBTQ advocates have hoped they could be on the horizon.
While legal, the post about the event venue sparked outrage among several social media users. Some of the 1,200 comments on May's Facebook post accused the event venue of bigotry and defended the couple.
"Brianna and I would like to thank everyone who had kind and supportive words for us," wrote Kasey Mayfield, who is tagged as May's partner on Facebook. "To everyone with recommendations, we can't wait to look through them and continue planning our wedding and share them with other queer couples facing the same obstacles. "
Other people took their comments to Yelp, which said it temporarily disabled postings about the venue while it checked if reviews reflected "actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events."
In the wake of the backlash, other social media users have left positive reviews for the venue and urged people to do the same, according to posts on Yelp and social media.
