Gay couple turned away at wedding venue

Sean Hydes said he and his partner arrived at Oakfield farm for a tour of the site, where they were met with a nervous reaction from the lady through whom they had made an appointment, and it was apparent she had not expected a same-sex couple.

“She was all friendly and [told us] that she doesn’t deal with same sex marriages, but the owner of the place likes to do those himself, but he isn’t here at the moment, but we can take the tour with one of the guides and fill in the forms [and so on], and the owner will call us during the week to make arrangements,” he told The Citizen.

However, the owner arrived later with the lady, who promptly walked away from the scene. After a brief introduction, the owner reportedly said he did not mind gay people, that he even had gay staff but could not marry them because he did not believe marriage was for gay people.

The owner reportedly said he based his decision on personal belief.

Sean said he was more offended by how the business had been handled.

“To go through this whole pretend scenario that the owner does the same sex weddings himself [and so on], and then get ambushed while on the tour, was so embarrassing and humiliating.”

It is not the first time Oakfield farm has been accused of discriminating against clients based on sexual orientation. On April 23, 2014, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) reportedly notified Oakfield Farm in Gauteng, one of the oldest wedding venues in the country, that it was investigating a complaint of unfair discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the farm.