Lesbians discriminated against for being called lesbians

GarethDW · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:20

I don't normally listen to the radio during the day, but I listened to the Jeremy Vine show during my lunch break today and found one of the stories they were discussing to be hilarious.

Apparently a couple in Bury St Edmunds have agreed an out-of-court settlement of £5K for discrimination against the estate agents they hired to sell their house. It seems as though an advert placed on one of the aggregator sites like Right Move contained a reference to their property... which was the word lesbians. However, the couple are indeed, lesbians.

Here's the article in the Telegraph, which sums up the whole affair...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2466142/Couple-win-5,000-for-lesbian-house-advert.html

My favourite quotes are:

Miss Richards said: "We were both shaking with disbelief and in tears when we read the property reference. We felt so violated.

"We had trusted these people, welcomed them into our home and this was how they treated us.

and

"The repercussions of such actions could have been catastrophic. Publicly linking our home address with our sexuality could have ruined our lives.

To be honest, I'm struggling to see how they have been discriminated against. They apparently didn't receive different treatment to any other people selling their house. I don't see how the estate agent choosing an ID for the property, albeit not a very smart choice of ID, is discrimination. The couple's sexuality may have nothing to do with the house, but so what...?!?

It seems that the lesbians are ashamed of being lesbians, or worried that others will know they're lesbians.

Or am I missing the point?

Dolph · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:21

There was absolutely no reason to put the couple's sexuality in the advert, that's the reason why it was deemed discriminatory, just as if they'd put "Owned by black couple" or similar in the discription.

What possible purpose could putting that information have in terms of selling their home?

Slinwagh · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:21

What has being a lesbian got to do with selling your house?

Darkwave · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:22

They're obviously not in the closet, so it sounds to me like they're just ashamed.

I do agree though that there was no need to include it in the advert.

Slinwagh · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:23

Ulfhedjinn said:
They're obviously not in the closet, so it sounds to me like they're just ashamed.

I do agree though that there was no need to include it in the advert.

Their sexuality has nothing to do with the sale of the house.

Darkwave · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:26

Slinwagh said:
Their sexuality has nothing to do with the sale of the house.

That's why I said I don't see why it was in the advert.

CaptainComedy · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:27

maybe their family didnt know?

maybe they werent selling the house just looking for a third person...... for a 3 some

Slinwagh · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:27

Ulfhedjinn said:
That's why I said I don't see why it was in the advert.

Why are they ashamed to be lesbians, how did you come to that conclusion?

GarethDW · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:28

Agreed it was daft of the agency to use that word, but did they get any different level of service?

Slinwagh · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:28

GarethDW said:
Agreed it was daft of the agency to use that word, but did they get any different level of service?

What if people did not view the house because of it?

Darkwave · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:29

Slinwagh said:
Why are they ashamed to be lesbians, how did you come to that conclusion?

I said that's just how it sounds to me, I'm entitled to my opinion and you are entitled to yours.

El Gringo · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:32

I think the whole "we trusted these people" comment is totally fair, the Estate Agents were a bunch of retards who thought it would be funny to put "lesbians" in the price box. Totally unprofessional.
They may have been discriminated against (oh how i dislike that term) by the fact that a straight couple wouldn't have had "heteros" in the price box, would they? The fact that they are lesbians changed that.
On the other hand, how it could have "ruined their lives" more than going to the newspapers and posing for pictures baffles me.

KNiVES · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:32

Lesbians!

I don't want to buy that house anymore!

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who think like this.

pitchfork · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:32

This is why I don't listen to radio 2...
The lesbians should accept they're lesbians so the description was right but useless.
Planet rock is where its at.

Slinwagh · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:33

KNiVES said:
Unfortunately there are a lot of people who think like this.

A few on here too or is that just gay men?

[TW]Fox · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:35

There is absolutely no reason why their sexuality should have been stated anywhere on anything to do with the sale of their home. That was utterly unacceptable.

However..

It is also not discrimination, and not a big deal, and certainly not deserving of £5k compensation.

The Estate Agent was an idiot for doing it. The couple are even more irritating for milking it for all they are worth.

You can call me a lesbian for £5k if you want. Sounds like a good deal.

Killerkebab · 29 Jul 2008 at 15:50

[TW]Fox;12179274 said:
You can call me a lesbian for £5k if you want. Sounds like a good deal.

That doesn't work because you're not ashamed of being a lesbian

robbiemc · 29 Jul 2008 at 16:00

We don't know what their neighbours (or neigbourhood) is like, there's every possibility that they live in a rough area that doesn't have much tolerance to such 'lifestyle choices'. In that circumstance I can understand the request for compensation.

Darkwave · 29 Jul 2008 at 16:02

robbiemc said:
We don't know what their neighbours (or neigbourhood) is like, there's every possibility that they live in a rough area that doesn't have much tolerance to such 'lifestyle choices'. In that circumstance I can understand the request for compensation.

I don't see how £5,000 is going to reverse any potential harm to them, unless they're going to buy rottweilers with it.

[TW]Fox · 29 Jul 2008 at 16:02

robbiemc said:
We don't know what their neighbours (or neigbourhood) is like, there's every possibility that they live in a rough area that doesn't have much tolerance to such 'lifestyle choices'. In that circumstance I can understand the request for compensation.

Don't be silly, everyone loves lesbians.