Catholic Church Sued by Gay Couple over Massachusetts Real Estate Deal

By Adam Gabbatt
The Guardian
September 10, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/10/catholic-church-gay-couple-massachusetts?newsfeed=true

[House of Affirmation - BishopAccountability.org]

A gay couple is suing the Catholic church in Massachusetts for allegedly refusing to sell them a mansion out of concern that they would host same-sex weddings at the site.

James Fairbanks and Alain Beret filed their discrimination lawsuit against the Catholic diocese of Worcester in county's superior court on Monday.

They allege that they were in negotiations to buy Oakhurst, a former retreat center in Northbridge, when church officials suddenly pulled out due to the possibility of same-sex marriage ceremonies being held there.

"I have lived quietly in the mainstream for nearly 60 years, and I expected to continue that," Beret told the Boston Globe. "But I will not continue that at the expense of my dignity."

Fairbanks and Beret said they inadvertently received an email sent from Thomas Sullivan, chancellor of the diocese of Worcester, to the church's broker. In the email Sullivan said he did not want to sell to the pair because of the "potentiality of gay marriages" at the house.

Sullivan contends that the email was taken out of context and says Fairbanks and Beret could not finance the purchase. He said he had only been told by the church's broker that Fairbanks and Beret planned to hold same-sex weddings there after the deal had fallen through.

"They didn't have the money, that was it," he told the Boston Globe. Sullivan said the pair had been unable to secure financing for their first offer, while a second offer was too low.

Sullivan told the Globe, however, that the church has a policy of not selling properties where Mass has been held to people who plan to host same-sex weddings. The same applied to other developers who planned to use former church properties for things the church deemed inappropriate, such as abortion clinics or bars.

"We wouldn't sell our churches and our properties to any of a number of things that would reflect badly on the church," he told the newspaper. "These buildings are sacred to the memory of Catholics."

Beret argues that neither he nor Fairbanks would have discussed same-sex weddings in front of the church's broker as they do not think in terms of "gay weddings", just weddings.

He said the property had been "way overpriced" at $1.45m, and that he and Fairbanks had agreed a preliminary deal to buy it for $1m. After examining the structure they discovered it needed repairs totalling $500,000 and reduced their offer to $550,000.

"With lightning speed," Beret told the Globe, the church's broker decided against the sale.

"It was not the kind of thing you would expect after having negotiated for a month, and everything having gone rather well," Beret said.