Friendship Village Is Not Gay Friendly

Mary Walsh and Bev Nance have been together for 40 years, and had hoped to retire to Friendship Village, a senior living community in Sunset Hills, Missouri, but have been denied a place because they’re married; you know, two women, same sex, and all that.

Friendship Village? Perhaps they should rethink their name ... like, oh I dunno, howsabout Hateful Hacienda? Anti-Gay Acres?

Mary and Bev had visited Friendship Village in July 2016 and even put down a$2,000 deposit for a home there, but when the powers that be saw on their application that Mary and Bev are married to each other the application was rejected; they were told:

“Your request to share a single unit does not fall within the categories permitted by the long-standing policy of Friendship Village Sunset Hills.”

The owners cited its cohabitation policy, which only permits opposite-sex married couples under the belief that marriage is the “the union of one man and one woman, as marriage is understood in the Bible.”

Oh, folks, please reread your Bible and learn about it before opening your bigoted yaps. There have been all kinds of marriages permitted in the Bible. Does Friendship Village have a spot for a man with 30 wives? I mean, that’s in the Bible; wives as property? In there, too. Wives sold into marriage? Does Friendship Village have a spot for mail-order brides?

Walsh and Nance have been together since 1978 and tied the knot in Massachusetts in 2009, have lived in St. Louis for nearly 40 years and just wanted to grow old together.

Gosh, that sounds awful! Turn ‘em down! Damned lesbians!

Luckily, Mary ad Bev have filed a lawsuit against the senior community with the help of lawyers from the National Center for Lesbian Rights [NCLR]; their complaint alleges that Friendship Village violated the federal Fair Housing Act and Missouri Human Rights Act.

Now, Missouri state law does not explicitly cover anti-LGBT discrimination—because it’s Missouri—but their legal team are arguing that Walsh and Nance were discriminated against on the basis of sex:

“Mary and Bev were denied housing for one reason and one reason only—because they were married to each other rather than to men. This is exactly the type of sex discrimination the Fair Housing Act prohibits. Their story demonstrates the kind of exclusion and discrimination still facing same-sex couples of all ages.”

A spokesperson for the Friendship Village said:

“We have just been made aware of a lawsuit that we have not yet seen and have not had an opportunity to review. This matter will be discussed with legal counsel and [we] have no further comment at this time.”

Start commenting, because it looks like hate and if Mary and Bev win their lawsuit, and I hope they sue for monetary damages, I hope they make certain that Friendship Village lives up to its name.

Now, before anyone suggests I’m being a Pollyanna, and am not aware of who’s in the White House and which party controls Congress, and how right leaning the Supremes might become, I’d like to say that if you just look at fairness then there’s only one solution.

Unlike the Bible which offers all kinds of made up stories that so-called religious folks today don’t believe because they don’t fit their particular brand of hate.

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