Brighton hotel accused of turning away lesbian couple
A lesbian couple are taking legal action against a Brighton hotel which they claim turned them away for being gay.
Rebecca Nash, 22, and Hope Stubbings, 19, said they booked a double room at the Brunswick Square Hotel but when they arrived they were told it only accepted straight couples and families.
The hotel's manager said there had been a misunderstanding.
Human rights group Liberty is pursuing the case on the couple's behalf.
It claims they were discriminated against contrary to the Equality Act 2010.
A Liberty spokesman said after being told there were no rooms available, the two women were ushered out of the hotel.
Legal director James Welch said: "My clients intend to show that they have as much right to enjoy a quiet weekend away together as any other couple."
The couple, who are both office workers from Andover in Hampshire, were unable to find alternative accommodation in the city and had to drive home following the incident last October.
The hotel manager, who did not want to be named, said: "This is Brighton, we have taken hundreds of gay people here.
"This is really upsetting. The only time we send people away is if they are loud or hooligans."
Brighton is known as the gay capital of the UK.
Last summer's Brighton Pride celebration, which began in the city as a gay protest in the early 1970s, was the biggest in its 18-year history.