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Couple Sues Retirement Village Denied Housing for Being Gay?
一對伴侶起訴退休村因同性戀拒絕提供住宿？
Mary Walsh and Bev Nance were rejected by a senior-living community outside St. Louis. Now the married couple is suing for discrimination.
瑪麗·沃爾什(Mary Walsh)和貝弗·南斯(Bev Nance)被圣路易斯郊外的一個老年社區拒絕。現在這對伴侶正在起訴老年社區歧視。
For Bev Nance, 68, and Mary Walsh, 72, the Friendship Village retirement community near St. Louis seemed like the perfect place to spend their golden years.
對68歲的貝弗·南斯和72歲的瑪麗·沃爾什來說，圣路易斯附近的友誼村老年社區似乎是她們度過黃金歲月的最佳地點。
Nance was excited about the on site exercise classes and choral group while Walsh looked forward to organizing some regular bridge games.
南斯非常喜歡現場練習課和合唱小組，沃爾什則期待著定期組織一些橋牌比賽。
"We talked about it and agreed that it made a lot of sense," says Walsh, a retired phone-company manager who, along with Nance, a former teacher, is a native St. Louisan.
“我們聊過很多這些，都覺得這很有意義。”沃爾什說。她退休前是電話公司的一名經理，南斯(Nance)做過教師，她們都是圣路易斯本地人。
But in July 2016, three days after the couple had made a $2,000 deposit for a two-bedroom unit, the women say they got a call from the marketing director at Friendship Village.
但這兩位女士說，在2016年7月，這對夫婦花了2000美元訂金定下一套兩居室公寓的三天后，她們接到了友誼村(Friendship Village)營銷總監的電話。
"Her first question was, 'What's yours and Bev's relationship?'" says Walsh, who explained the couple had wed in June 2009 after 31 years together.
“她的第一個問題是，‘你和貝弗是什么關系？’”沃爾什解釋說，她們在一起31年后，于2009年6月結婚。
"She said, 'Well, I think there may be a problem.'"
“她說，‘嗯，我覺得可能有問題。’”
Four days later the privately owned company rejected their application, claiming the couple's legal union violated the community's cohabitation policy—which reads, in part, "The term 'marriage'... means the union of one man and one woman, as marriage is understood in the Bible."
四天后，這家私營公司拒絕了他們的申請，聲稱這對夫婦的合法婚姻違反了社區的同居政策，該政策有一部分表示，“‘婚姻’這個詞，意思是一個男人和一個女人的結合，就像圣經中的婚姻一樣。”
"I felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach," says Walsh.
沃爾什說:“我感覺我的胃被踢了一腳。”
On July 25 Walsh and Nance kicked back, suing Friendship Village for housing discrimination.
7月25日，沃爾什和南斯反唇相譏，以住房歧視為由起訴友誼村。
"If either of them were married to a man instead of a woman, this never would have happened," says their attorney Julie Wilensky.
她們的律師朱莉·維倫斯基說：“如果他們中的任何一個人嫁給了一個男人而不是一個女人，這一切都不會發生。”
"No one should be denied housing simply because of who they are."
“任何人都不應該僅僅因為自己的身份就被拒之門外。”
The case gained national attention after Bravo's Andy Cohen tweeted that Nance—his high school pre-algebra teacher—"deserves better. We all do!"
精彩電視臺（Bravo）的安迪·科恩(Andy Cohen)在推特上表示，他的高中初級代數老師南斯“理應得到更好的待遇。我們都應當如此！”自此這件事引起了全國范圍內的關注。
While the Friendship Village board has yet to file a legal response—telling People in a statement, "We are prayerfully and thoughtfully reviewing this issue"—Walsh and Nance still hope to move into the 450-resident community.
雖然友誼村委員會還沒有發聲明作出法律回應，他們在接受《人物》雜志采訪時表示，“我們正在虔誠地、深思熟慮地審查這個問題”——沃爾什和南斯仍然希望能夠入住這個有著450個居民的社區。
"We've been with non-gay people all of our lives," says Walsh. "If they hadn't brought this up, I think we would have gotten along just fine there."
沃爾什說:“我們一生都在和非同性戀者打交道。”“如果他們沒有提出這個問題，我想我們在那里會過得很好。”
