Oregon Lions Club Accused of Discrimination for Refusing Lesbian Couple Cat Fish Derby Discount

It appears that more then just the bait stank at a recent Lions Club Catfish Derby in Huntington, OR, as the local civic club is now accused of violating Oregon’s anti-discrimination laws for refusing a lesbian couple a couple’s discount for the Club’s annual Catfish Derby this past May.

In a letter sent last week to the Lions Clubs International Headquarters in Illinois on behalf of Angela and Tina Corriere-Gooch, Lambda Legal accused the Huntington Lions Club of violating Oregon’s anti-discrimination laws by refusing a couples’ discount and has asked the Huntington Lions Club to issue a written apology to the couple.

The couple say that when they registered for the tournament on May 22, a Lions Club representative not only required that they pay the full admission price, saying, “none of this boy-boy, girl-girl couples crap.” but also gave the couples the discount to their teenage nieces, who entered the contest with their boyfriends.

“It’s insulting and degrading that the Club treated us like strangers, instead of recognizing our committed relationship,” Tina Corriere-Gooch said in a Lambda Legal press release.

The Corriere-Gooch’s are also requesting that all Oregon Lions clubs, nearly 200 of them, receive notice of their antidiscrimination obligations under Oregon law, a meaningful plan to ensure that clear notice is provided specifically to Huntington, Oregon Lions Club members, and a written apology.

“It’s not just insulting; it’s illegal,” said Tara Borelli, the Lambda Legal staff attorney who drafted the letter. “Oregon’s public accommodations antidiscrimination law expressly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and sex, and Angela and Tina were denied equal accommodations on both of those grounds. The Lions Club needs to make sure its clubs are aware of states’ antidiscrimination laws, and in fact, follow the club’s own guidelines which include, in its own words, ‘fostering a spirit of understanding among people and taking an active interest in the social and moral welfare of the whole community.’”

Last week in an interview with the Baker City Oregon Herald, Mike Raney of Huntington, the chairman of the catfish derby, said his decision to deny the $1 couples discount to the Corriere-Gooches had nothing to do with their sexual orientation, even after another man present suggested that Angela and Tina should be given the discount if they could document their relationship status.

“I wasn’t making any statement against lesbians, I’ll tell you that right now I have nothing against them at all. I was just trying to run a catfish derby… We’re volunteers out there to help people… We’re trying to make money for the direct benefit of people. We don’t discriminate.”

Raney added he refused to give the couple the discount because he figured that if he did he would also have to extend the same offer to other pairs of anglers of the same gender, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Raney also said he is disappointed that Lambda Legal and the Corriere-Gooches are accusing the Lions Club, one of the world’s largest service organizations, of discrimination, but said he is willing to write the couple a letter of apology.

http://www.lambdalegal.org/news/pr/or_20090721_lesbian-couple-catfish-derby-lions-club-warning.html

http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Group-accuses-Lions-Club-of-discrimination

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