‘Homophobia still exists’: Christian couple ban gay men from buying home

A gay couple were shocked when the Christian owners of a house they were interested in buying refused to let them view the property. The sellers quoted the bible to justify their decision to not sell to the men.

‘Homophobia Still Exists’

Luke Whitehouse and Lachlan Mantell fell in love of with the £650,000 three-bed property in Coulsdon, Surrey and had planned to have a viewing last Saturday.

But on Wednesday, the sellers sent them a message saying they were not welcomed on the property due to their same-sex partnership. The message sent via estate management company, Purplebricks read:

Dear Lachlan and Luke, thank you for sharing your circumstances with us. We're sorry if we seem intrusive, but we just want to make clear that we would be unwilling for two men in a partnership to view or buy our house. As it is contrary to the gracious teaching in God's Word, the Holy Bible, e.g Romans 1:24-28 and Jude 7 (King James Version). With regards.

34-year-old Luke, a business owner his partner, Lachlan 37, a producer at ITV have been together for over eight years and were hoping to get on the property ladder. Recounting his reaction to the message from the sellers, Luke said:

For the first 10 seconds, I laughed – I thought it was a joke. But then I was upset, and I had a cry on the phone to my mum. Homophobia still exists. Since I came out eight years ago I have not come across discrimination. I probably have been discriminated against but was just not aware of it.

Nothing Wrong

The pair, originally from Adelaide, Australia, spent so much time apart due to the pandemic and have been looking forward to establishing a home together in the UK. They said the incident, although sad and shocking, will not deter them from pursuing their dream of owning a house.

We will look for something else now. We are not going to let it affect us trying to buy a house.

However, the married Christian couple who refused them a showing insist they were only acting according to their beliefs and did not see where they had erred. Dr Joanna Brunker, 34, a medical physicist defended the decision of her and her husband, Luke Main, 33, a builder, stating:

We’re practising Christians and are sticking to our beliefs and haven’t done anything wrong.

But the estate agents that company that listed the property said they would not be selling it any more as the sellers’ stance was against its views and values.