Joe Sonka, of the blog Barefoot And Progressive, recounts how he and his straight male friend who were perceived by staff at the Creation Museum to be a same-sex couple, were refused entry into a "Date Night" event at the museum in Kentucky. This is what Sonka was told by museum staff:
They explained to us that the Creation Museum Date Night was a "Christian environment", therefore the presence of two men eating dinner together would not be allowed. The very sight of this would 'add an un-Christian element to the event" and "disrupt the evening for everyone.' The Creation Museum rep further informed us that you cannot be a Christian if you are gay, asking "can you tell me what exactly is Christian about being gay?"
When asked for the refund on our tickets, which were purchased in advance, he informed us that there would be no refund, since it said explicitly on their Website that "no gay couples would be permitted to attend their Date Night". That is certainly an interesting admission, despite the fact that it isn't true.
Nowhere on the museum's website does it state that admission to the museum will be denied to gay couples. Tickets to the date night cost $71. Louisville's LEO Weekly has published an account by one of the friends who accompanied Sonka imcluding a reaction from one of the museum's security guards.
As both LEO and Sonka point out, the museum will allow admission to murderers. Jeffrey D. Bornhoeft, an Ohio man who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the shooting death of his ex-wife's husband, was granted a court approved visit to Kentucky so he can visit the museum. It is his first trip outside of the state since the trial in 2000.
Last summer, Jason Lisle, a representative for the museum, said about gay couples: "I don't think we would kick them out for [holding hands in the museum]."
Watch a BBC report about the museum, AFTER THE JUMP.
