A B&B owner who refuses to allow homosexual couples to share a bed has called in police over what he calls “offensive” emails from gay activists.
Tom Forrest, 69, provoked controversy when he refused to allow a homosexual couple share a double bed in his guesthouse.
And he was since advertised it as being “family and heterosexual friendly” despite legislation preventing tourist operators from refusing homosexual customers.
And now the B&B owner from Kinlochewe, Highlands, says he called the police after becoming the target of “offensive” messages from gay activists.
Tom, who has run the Cromasaig B&B with wife Liz for more than 20 years, said: “We received emails from same-sex couples looking for double rooms.
“We didn’t have anything available on the dates that some couples were looking for and that’s the truth.
“One man got back to me and said I had to provide him with my availability for the next three months. That’s just ridiculous. He was just being a nuisance.
“Since then we have been bombarded by offensive emails. The worst stuff has been put on our Facebook page.
“A lesbian woman had claimed she had slept with a partner in one of our single beds.
“That just isn’t true and I later noticed that the woman in question was having a laugh with her friends about it.
“Yet again, we’re being attacked by these people because we state we’re heterosexual friendly. I have asked the police for advice on how to handle this.
“We can’t take the email address down. We can’t remove the telephone number. My wife Liz is a first responder, anyway, so it’s effectively an emergency phone.
“People have been calling us to offer their support on the back of this and I’m thankful for that.”
Mr Forrest declared he would rather go to jail than be forced to accept gay couples at his B&B under the law.
It comes after Stephen Nock and his partner Jean-Paul Martinon from London had emailed him seeking a double room while on holiday in 2004.
But Mr Forrest and wife Liz refused the request, citing ‘sexual deviation’.
Mr Nock was told in an exchange of vitriolic emails that ‘two gents’ could only book a twin room at the B&B as their relationship was ‘unnatural’.
Kevin Crowe, a spokesman for the Highland Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Forum, declined to comment on Tom’s business but said that B&B owners should not be exempt from the law.
He said: “Every business is now aware that they cannot discriminate against people.
“A lot of B&B owners, of course, work from home and some have claimed that because it’s their home they should be exempt.
“My view is that if their home is a workplace they should be covered by the same rules as every other workplace – that includes health and safety legislation and equality legislation.
“I would advise anyone who believes they have been refused accommodation on the grounds of their sexuality to go to the police.”
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland confirmed that they received a request for advice on a matter concerning emails and that “suitable advice was given”.
