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Mississippi venue refuses to host interracial couple’s wedding, says 'it's against our Christian beliefs’

Boone's Camp Event Hall went back on an agreement to host a wedding after finding out the groom and bride-to be were from two different races
UPDATED APR 6, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

BOONEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI: A Mississippi event hall has come under fire on social as the owners went back on their agreement to host a wedding after finding out that the couple getting married were of different races.

LaKambria S. Welch, the sister to the groom, told Deep South Voice that the alleged owners of Boone's Camp Event Hall in Booneville refused to host the wedding after finding out that it was going to be a mixed-race wedding. Her brother, a black man, was to tie the knot with a white woman. 

She said that they had been putting together the plans for the wedding for about a week after getting the initial go-ahead from the event hall authorities when they received a note informing them that they would not be hosting the event "because of the venue's beliefs."

"The owner took a look at my brother’s fiancée’s page and wrote her back to say they won’t be able to get married there because of her beliefs," she revealed. "He told my mom and she contacted the owner through messenger to only get a 'seen' with no reply. That’s when I took it upon myself to go get clarification on her beliefs."

She drove down to the venue to confront them and recorded her conversation with an older unidentified white woman believed to be one of the employees, which she then uploaded on her Facebook page

In the video, the woman can be heard explaining how they reserve the right to deny service to gay and interracial couples.

"First of all, we don’t do gay weddings or mixed race, because of our Christian race—I mean, our Christian belief," she tells Welch.

"Okay, we're Christians as well," Welch replies. "So what in the Bible tells you that...?"

But before she can complete the question, the woman interrupts her and states, "Well, I don't want to argue my faith. We just choose not to."

When Welch asks again if that was her "Christian belief," the older woman replies in the affirmative.

"FYI, if you’re a mixed-race couple, please do NOT inquire Boones Camp for a wedding venue," Welch wrote in her now-viral post, which has been shared close to 1,000 times. "They will not accommodate you if you’re 'gay' or 'mixed-race' due to their 'Christian beliefs.'"

"It’s SO sad that RACISM is still going on in 2019," she continued. "I never knew God to discriminate but as I’ve said before, everyone will have their time with him. I just hope it’s all worth it."

Welch was not the only one who had an unsavory experience with the hall either. Another woman, Katelynn Springsteen, similarly told Deep South Voice that they refused to host a wedding for her friend after finding out that it was going to be between a same-sex couple. 

The event hall took down their Facebook page after news of the incident hit headlines, but unfortunately, the law is on their side.

In 2016, Mississippi's state legislature passed a "religious freedom" law that granted businesses the right to refuse service to individuals based on their beliefs about gender and marriage. The US Supreme Court refused to take up the case before it was upheld by the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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