Photographer refuses to shoot gay wedding citing ‘religious beliefs’
Anna Suhyda and Amanda Broadway are planning to marry in June (Denver Channel/Screengrab)
A wedding photographer has refused to work with a same-sex couple, citing “personal religious beliefs” as their reason.
Anna Suhyda and Amanda Broadway have been together for nearly four years and are planning to marry in Boulder, Colorado, in June.
When the couple reached out to company Media Mansion about shooting their wedding video, they were told the firm was “not serving” LGBT+ couples.
Speaking to the Denver Channel, Suhyda said: “He asked, ‘What’s your fiancée’s name?’ And I said, ‘Amanda.’ And I could tell he kind of paused on the phone, but I thought he was maybe jotting down notes.
When she checked her emails, she found one from the company, saying: “Unfortunately, at this time, we are not serving the LGBTQ community!”
“With an exclamation point. Kind of like a punch in the gut,” she added.
The owner of the company also posted a letter on Media Mansion’s Facebook page, stating they would work with the LGBTQ community on business videos, but not “gay ceremonies or engagements” due to “personal religious beliefs”.
“Our relationship shouldn’t affect anybody in a negative way. So, the fact that it gets turned into that is just upsetting,” Suhyda said.
Benjamin Hostetter, the owner of Media Mansion, told the news outlet that he identifies as Christian.
“I have friends who are gay, and if they want to hang out and me to do a video for them, it’s totally cool. But specifically doing a project that would be against my beliefs in anything regardless of what the specifics of it is not something I want to engage in,” he said.
He added: “I believe it has to do with family and producing healthy families. I don’t think there’s a lot of good evidence out there that like two men or two women can come together and have a really amazing effective family that is good and is everlasting.”
