An interracial Mississippi couple was turned away from a wedding venue with the owner citing her refusal based on her “Christian beliefs.” The owner of the venue has since apologized, saying she was raised to believe interracial marriage was an “understood subject.”
In a now-viral video posted on Facebook on Saturday by LaKambria Welch, an unidentified woman can be heard saying, in part, “we don’t do gay weddings or mixed-raced (weddings) because of our Christian race, I mean our Christian belief.”
With the 2016 passage of House Bill 1523, Mississippi businesses are allowed to deny services based on their religious views. The bill also prevents government intervention when churches or businesses act “based upon or in a manner consistent with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction.” The bill was primarily directed at sexual orientation and same-sex marriage. Race was not a part of the legislation.
According to multiple media reports, Welch went to Boone’s Camp Event Hall in Booneville on Saturday with her mother after finding out the venue would not host her brother, who is black, and his fianceé, who is white.
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