The Illinois Human Rights Commission levied an $80,000 fine on an inn that refused to host a civil-union ceremony for a same-sex couple.
When Todd and Mark Wathen reached out to the TimberCreek Bed & Breakfast about hosting their ceremony, TimberCreek owner Jim Walder emailed them, “homosexuality is immoral and unnatural,” according to the Amercian Civil Liberties Union.
An administrative law judge with the commission ordered the bed and breakfast to pay the Wathens for emotional distress as well as covering attorney fees on Tuesday.
“We are very happy that no other couple will have to experience what we experienced by being turned away and belittled and criticized for who we are,” Todd Wathen said, according to Reuters.
[Reuters]
More Must-Reads From TIME
- What We Know So Far About the Deadly Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
- Beyoncé's Album of the Year Snub Fits Into the Grammys' Long History of Overlooking Black Women
- How the U.S. Shot Down the Alleged Chinese Spy Balloon
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart
