The young couple wanted really special invitations made up for their wedding, something that looked like a train ticket to fit with the railroad theme of their big day. So bride-to-be Paige Beckwith turned to a Suwanee printer who’d been recommended to her.
But the printer rejected the job because of his religious beliefs, the parent company of the printing business said Monday.
Beckwith is gay.
"The owner called me back and let me know that he's not going to print our invitations because he does not support same-sex marriage," she told 11Alive, which first reported the story.
Beckwith Monday told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she didn’t want to comment any more on the matter.
The printer, Alan Akins, a franchisee of AlphaGraphics, told The AJC: “We never discriminated against anyone, for any reason. Never do.”
He would not elaborate further.
However, a company spokesman at AlphaGraphics confirmed Beckwith’s story.
The company also released a statement: “We do not condone discrimination of any kind, and wish to make clear that customers of any race, religion, nationality, ethnicity or sexual orientation are welcome at our franchisees’ locations nationwide. We also wish to apologize to the customers who were impacted by the actions of this franchisee, and hope that our response conveys the level of commitment we feel toward upholding our company’s standards of inclusion, and that all members of the Suwanee community continue to feel welcome at AlphaGraphics.”
In addition, the company offered to do the invitations at no cost to the couple.
Details of the alleged incident, which surfaced just days before a hearing scheduled for Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court, have thrust Georgia back into the ongoing debate over same-sex marriage, including the issue of businesses that refuse to provide services for gay weddings.
Recently, state legislators debated a highly controversial bill in this year's session that critics said could foster actions against groups including same-sex couples.
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