Pink stink over wedding venue
A lesbian couple claim an upmarket restaurant in Cape Town’s northern suburbs told them it does not do gay weddings.
|||A posh restaurant group has been accused of being anti-gay after allegedly refusing to host a same sex wedding reception.
An upset lesbian couple took to Facebook to “expose” Schoongezicht Restaurant in Paarl, after claiming staff informed them that gays were not allowed on the property “due to religious reasons”.
The restaurant with its picturesque garden is a sought-after venue, and is located on a farm with a beautiful church next to it.
The restaurant also has a branch in Durbanville.
The administrators of the lesbian Facebook page Sarie Sitkamer allege that they were turned away when they went to inspect the venue for their upcoming nuptials.
In a post on the I LOVE CAPE TOWN page, they say: “Please note that neither Schoongezicht venues are gay friendly. We investigated the venue in Paarl as a wedding venue and were shown around and given a pricelist and info etc. and as we were leaving, asked: you are gay friendly right? To which we were told definitely NOT. This has been confirmed with the venue in Durbanville as well.”
People immediately commented on the post, which received hundreds of comments and shares.
Nicole Ann Pahliney said: “Really?? People like living in the stone ages. (angryface)
While Johan Funkster said: “God probably told them that they would burn in hell if they feed their prawns to the gay community. Bunch of f***tards.”
Schoongezicht Restaurant also commented on the post, saying it was a “misunderstanding”.
“...we only do traditional ceremonies, we do all reception parties for who ever wants to book the venue.”
The Daily Voice visited the Paarl venue on Monday, where the receptionist denied the homophobia allegations, calling it “insane”.
At Brackenfell, the owner of Schoongezicht, who only identified herself as Marianne, also denied turning away gays.
“This place is 11 years old and we have never had any complaint or email saying we ever discriminate against anyone. That is not part of our belief system,” she said.
“This person should have come to us and confronted us with the allegations instead of spreading these ugly lies. We do not care who or what colour or creed you are.”
Daily News