*eyes roll to the very back of head*
Homophobia? In this economy? Even in 2022, it would seem so…
Question: Are you ‘straight’ or are you ‘contrary to the gracious teaching in God’s Word’?
That’s the ultimatum one gay couple was faced with when looking for a new home this week.
In another case of religious freedom vs LGBTQ+ discrimination, Luke Whitehouse and his partner, Lachlan Mantell, were excited to start off 2022 by buying their first home together, but the response they got from one homophobe seller was far from what they had hoped.
Speaking to GLUE, Whitehouse explained: “We sent a message via Purplebricks to view a house in Surrey.”
“They messaged us back asking for a bit of background on us, which we thought was odd, but we responded telling them we are a couple looking to buy our first home, and that my partners’ brother and children live in the area.”
“It was literally the first time we had messaged someone about having a viewing.”
The couple then received the following reply:
“Dear Lachlan and Luke, Thank you for sharing your circumstances with us”, the message began.
“We’re sorry if we seem intrusive, but we just want to make clear that we would be unwilling for two men in partnership to view or buy our house, as it is contrary to the gracious teaching in God’s Word, the Holy Bible, e.g. Romans 1:24-28 and Jude 7 (King James Version). With regards,”
I’m sorry… “WITH REGARDS”?!
Luke then shared a screenshot of the message reply to Facebook:
Speaking to GLUE, Luke said: “For the first 10 seconds I laughed because I thought it was a joke – then it hit me and I was enraged.”
“I didn’t want other people to have that happen to them”, he explained. “I have a business that promotes equality and mental health messages to pupils in schools, so it’s super important to me.”
“If I’m honest, I wouldn’t say I’ve ever knowingly felt discriminated against since coming out, so this is a first and just reminds you that homophobia still exists.”
Not wanting other prospective buyers to encounter the same blatant homophobia kind of interaction, the couple took to Twitter and reached out to Purplebricks’ social media team who, thankfully, delivered the right response:
“Thanks for sharing this message Lachlan and we’re so sorry you’ve had this experience”, they replied.
“This stance is completely opposed to our views and values. If you can DM us to let us know the property in question, we’Il refund this seller’s fee as Purplebricks no longer wish to list it.”
Props to Purplebricks for being quick with the right response and shame on the seller for such a blatant and appalling display of homophobia in 2022 – sent with our Regards, obviously.
Thanks for sharing this message Lachlan – and we’re so sorry you’ve had this experience. This stance is completely opposed to our views and values. If you can DM us to let us know the property in question, we’ll refund this seller’s fee as Purplebricks no longer wish to list it.
— Purplebricks UK (@PurplebricksUK) January 12, 2022