Kate Baker and Ming Linsley filed the suit on Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court, accusing the Wildflower Inn of Lyndonville of abruptly turning them away after learning they are lesbians.
They claim the inn violated Vermont’s Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act, which prohibits inns, hotels, motels and other establishments with five or more rooms from turning away patrons based on sexual orientation. The law makes an exemption for religious organizations.
Twenty-one other states and the District of Columbia have similar laws. Greg Johnson, a law professor at Vermont Law School, said the suit could set a precedent as more states legalize same-sex marriage. Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in six states and the District of Columbia, all of which protect gay men and lesbians in their public-accommodations laws.
“I think this case could set an important precedent not only for Vermont but for other states with marriage equality,” Professor Johnson said, noting that lawsuits like this are rare.
In 2008, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights ruled that the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist group, violated the state’s fair-accommodation law by refusing to allow a lesbian couple to hold a civil union ceremony on its beachfront pavilion.
The current lawsuit alleges that in October Ms. Linsley’s mother, Channie Peters, spoke with the events coordinator at the inn, which has 24 rooms and is on 570 acres in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, according to its Web site.
Ms. Peters said the coordinator referred to a bride and a groom while discussing the bridal suite; Ms. Peters said she corrected the woman and they continued their conversation.
Shortly after the conversation, Ms. Peters received an e-mail with the subject line “bad news,” according to the lawsuit, and was told the innkeepers did not allow same-sex wedding receptions at the site.
“After our conversation,” the e-mail reads, according to the lawsuit, “I checked with my innkeepers and unfortunately due to their personal feelings, they do not host gay receptions at our facility.”
An employee at the Wildflower Inn said the innkeepers, Jim and Mary O’Reilly, were “not doing any comment at this time.”
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, claims the inn turned away at least two other same-sex couples.
“I was just incredulous,” Ms. Peters said. “It was a real punch because it was the first place and it was scary because am I going to run into this in every place I call?”
In a statement, Vermont’s commissioner of tourism and marketing, Megan Smith, said that she did not know details of the case but that the state welcomed “L.G.B.T. travelers with open arms.” The Vermont Convention Bureau put Ms. Peters in touch with the Wildflower Inn.
Ms. Baker, 31, and Ms. Linsley, 34, said they were crushed.
“I just felt stunned,” Ms. Baker said. “And it wasn’t until a little while later that I started feeling more angry about it.”
Two months later, Ms. Baker said she was still “feeling lousy” about what happened and wondered whether what happened was illegal.
“We were thinking we might not have only a right but a duty to speak up about it,” Ms. Baker said. “It wasn’t just about us. It was preventing other people from having the same negative experience around what should be such a positive life marker.”
Ms. Linsley said she and Ms. Baker do not typically sign petitions or protest, but wanted to do something. They found another site in Vermont and are planning their fall wedding.
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