YOUR FAVORITE LOGO TV SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

Event Center Sues Church Landlord for Banning LGBT Groups, Destroying Business

A "morals clause" prevented the Oregon space from hosting anything "offensive or disreputable."

An Oregon event space is suing a church that forced the business to turn away LGBT customers, the Oregonian reports.

Ambridge Event Center leased a large space from Holy Rosary Church in 2012 to host weddings, conventions, and other events. After the Portland center denied services to a local black chapter of PFLAG in 2015, owners say the business never recovered from the resulting negative publicity.

A recent lawsuit alleges that Holy Rosary Church had inserted a strict "morals clause" in its rental contract.

The clause forbade the renter from using the space for anything "offensive or disreputable" to the Catholic church, which, according the plantiff, was "explicit in prohibiting Ambridge from renting out the Event Center to members of or groups affiliated with the LGBTQ community."

Getty Images

Minister reading the Bible.

Ambridge manager Alan Peters later apologized to the PFLAG chapter leader and offered to host the LGBT group's annual party for free. The center then hired an openly gay man as an event coordinator.

A few weeks later, the lawsuit suit claims, Holy Rosary Church sent the center a lease termination notice in "retaliation" for the hire.

Although Ambridge Event Center is now defunct, affiliate Holladay Investors is suing the church for breach of contract, breach of faith, and violation of state discrimination laws.
 The company demands about $2.3 million in damages, fees, and compensation.

The lawsuit claims the church violated an Oregon state law forbidding businesses from discriminating based on sexual orientation. Last year an appeals court upheld a 2015 decision by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries that fined Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery $135,000 for refusing to sell a wedding cake to a lesbian couple.

However, there are exceptions to the law allowing religious institutions like Holy Rosary to discriminate based on sexual orientation under certain circumstances.

Latest News