An event hall in Mississippi is under fire for refusing to service an interracial couple due to the company’s “Christian beliefs”.
An employee at Boone’s Camp Event Hall in Booneville, MS was recorded on video citing “our Christian race” and “our Christian belief” as reasons why the venue refused to host a wedding for an interracial couple.
LaKambria Welch told Deep South Voice magazine on Sunday that she drove to the event hall after they reportedly told her brother via Facebook that he wouldn’t be allowed to hold his upcoming nuptials there “because of [the company’s] beliefs.”
Welch wanted to confront the venue herself and ask why her brother — who is black and is engaged to a white woman — had his business refused by the company. Welch recorded the encounter and posted it on Facebook. A woman who worked at the event hall said the venue did not allow LGBTQ or interracial couples to host weddings there.
“First of all, we don’t do gay weddings or mixed race, because of our Christian race — I mean, our Christian belief,” the woman is heard telling Welch in the clip.
“Okay, we’re Christians as well,” Welch responded. “So what in the Bible tells you that …”
The woman interrupted her to reply,
“Well, I don’t want to argue my faith. We just don’t participate. We choose not to.”
LaKambria Welch has said a wedding venue in Booneville, MS, would not accommodate her brother and his fiancée as the venue doesn’t “do gay weddings or mixed race” because of their “Christian beliefs.” Welch said she filmed this after she went to ask why they canceled the event. pic.twitter.com/imJxkG2nr2
— KOKH FOX 25 (@OKCFOX) September 3, 2019
The now-viral video resulted in Boone’s Camp Event Hall deleting its Facebook page before reinstating it on Sunday, Newsweek reports.
The owner of the venue then posted an apology on Facebook where they explained after a meeting with their pastor they discovered no Bible scripture that forbids interracial marriage.
“The revelation was apparently quite surprising for the author, who referenced being taught that races should remain separate while growing up,” Newsweek wrote, paraphrasing the Facebook apology.
However, by Tuesday, the venue’s Facebook page had been removed. The city of Booneville issued a statement on Facebook Monday saying it does “not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status.”
“The City of Booneville, Mayor, and Board of Aldermen do not condone or approve these types of discriminatory policies,” the statement said.
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