In case you were wondering why Americans For Truth had to change our banquet date from Oct. 6 to Friday, October 5, here’s the explanation: Holiday Inn Select Hotel in Naperville, Illinois, dropped our reservation due to the possibility of a “gay” protest against us. Here’s the story from American Family Association’s “OneNewsNow.” You can also listen to their story on the OneNewsNow website. Holiday Inn Dumps Christian banquet; Group Says Anti-Christian Discrimination at Play
But when AFT executive director Peter LaBarbera told the banquet coordinator the event might draw a protest from homosexual activists, general manager Dennis Igoe dropped the reservation due to what he called “potential negative publicity to the hotel.” Florida-based Liberty Counsel then sent a letter to Igoe, informing him that his “cancellation of Americans for Truth’s reservation raises serious concerns of unlawful discrimination under the Illinois Human Rights Act which prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation on the basis of religion.”
According to LaBarbera, Igoe’s decision to reject AFT was then ratified by Holiday Inn’s corporate offices. LaBarbera says he cannot imagine the hotel treating homosexual activists in the same manner. He calls this another example of Christians being treated as second-class citizens in U.S. society.
“It seems that there is now a sort of politically correct homosexual ‘heckler’s veto’ that’s forcing or persuading businesses to do things to decent people that they wouldn’t normally do,” he says.
LaBarbera states that it seems like America is becoming a “nation of cowards” due to political correctness.
“When a hotel chain is willing to cancel a Christian group’s event, due to a potential protest by a homosexual activist group, it’s a sad day in America,” says LaBarbera.
He says that although he believes his organization has grounds for a lawsuit, they probably will not because they have “plenty of other things to do,” he states. The AFT banquet will now have to find a new venue for the event, which has been rescheduled for October 5. The banquet will feature speaking appearances by former homosexual Charlotte Cothran and parents’ rights advocate David Parker of Massachusetts.
Mr. Igoe did not return OneNewsNow’s requests for an interview. A Holiday Inn hotel in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake recently succeeded in getting a judge to bar the Illinois Minuteman Project from holding a scheduled seminar at the hotel. The hotel cited concerns the anti-illegal immigration group might attract protests that would jeopardize the safety of its employees and customers.
Editor’s Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates OneNewsNow.com.
