A lesbian couple in Indiana were turned away from a local tax business, because the Christian owner objected to them filing joint taxes as a married couple.
Samantha and Bailey Brazzel had approached Carver Tax Service in Russiaville, Indiana, to file their first joint tax return since their wedding in 2018.
But the newlywed couple were left stunned when the business owner, who had filed Bailey’s individual taxes for several years, refused to take their custom.
Indiana lesbian couple were shaken by discriminatory incident
Speaking to the Kokomo Tribune newspaper, Bailey Brazzel said: “At first we thought she was kidding, but when she started talking about the Bible, we knew she was serious… and I was completely shocked.”
“You hear about it all the time, but nothing like this has happened to us before.
“She had done my taxes with no issues before, but now that we were married and she didn’t agree with my life choices, she wouldn’t.”
Brazzel said that she and her wife were shaken by the incident, adding: “My wife was trying to console me and I was crying.”
Indiana business owner: As a Christian I could not prepare their taxes
Nancy Fivecoate of Carter Tax Service told the newspaper: “[Bailey] came with her wife and I declined to prepare the taxes because of my religious beliefs,
“I am a Christian and I believe marriage is between one man and one woman. I was very respectful to them. I told them where I thought she might be able to get her taxes prepared.”
Fivecoate said it was not the first time the issue had come up.
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