On Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:12:59 -0500, you wrote:
>Indeed
>
>I agree they may be ridicules but they do have the right to pick whom
>the associate.
Creation Museum rejects same-sex couple from Date Night event
PETERSBURG - A Date Night event at the Creation Museum in Petersburg was disrupted when a same-sex couple was denied entry.
While accounts differ, what is clear is that a man who planned to enter the Feb. 11 event with a male friend was told the two would not be allowed to enter. Additionally, they did not receive a refund of the $71.90 cost for the two tickets they had purchased online.
"On the website, there was no mention of sexual orientation," said Jonathan Meador, who was involved in the situation.
Mark Looy, chief communications officer for the Creation Museum, said it was clear from the promotional material that the event was for heterosexual couples only.
The event included dinner, a talk from museum founder Ken Ham about love and the Biblical view of marriage and musical performances.
"The message was one of Christian marriage, which the Bible teaches is between a man and a woman," Looy said.
Meador attended the event with a female guest and a third man, who told security guards he was waiting for his date.
By Meador's account, when the male friend informed security personnel that the friend was also male they were told they would not be allowed to enter.
Meador and his date were allowed in.
? Read the Creation Museum's account
Meador admitted the other member of the group, Joe Sonka, had posted a blog entry in January suggesting that it was the patriotic duty of his readers to send a flamboyantly gay couple to the event.
? Read Sonka's account
Looy said that message suggests the group was looking to provoke an incident.
"We are not going to allow anyone to come to a private event and be disruptive," Looy said. "It's not fair to the other people who also paid to attend the event. We welcome anyone to come to the Creation Museum during regular business hours because we want all people to be exposed to our message."
Meador acknowledges that the Creation Museum did not break any laws but feels they should have at least refunded the cost of admission.
"It is telling, however, that they equate gayness and flamboyance with disruption," Meador said.
He said to his knowledge, no one in the group is homosexual.
Meador, who writes for an alternative publication in Louisville, said he and the two other members of the group live there while Sonka lives in Lexington.
He denies the group was looking for a confrontation and said they attended the event out of curiosity.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110219/NEWS0103/102200330/Creation-Museum-rejects-same-sex-couple
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