Taylor Shumaker says she called the University Club on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 to inquire about the place. She says bar manager Kristen Stewart offered to give Shumaker a tour and asked if her fiance would be coming.

“And she asked if ‘he’ would be coming and I just said, ‘No, it’s not actually a ‘he’, it’s a ‘she.’ And she said, ‘Excuse me?’” recounted Shumaker.

“I said, ‘It’s a woman,’ and she said, ‘Oh, we don’t rent to homosexual couples’”

When interviewed by the local news, Stewart was unapologetic:

"I am a biblical Christian and I do not believe in homosexual marriage, that’s correct. And because marriage is a covenant that God created for man and woman, as a biblical Christian, I cannot help them into or celebrate that sin."

I wonder if she ever wears a poly-cotton blend, or works on Sunday...

Stewart’s husband Perry (whose family apparently doesn’t hold the same views as his wife) is the president of the University Club and he issued a statement saying that his wife “mis-spoke,” adding that he was very sorry this happened.

I have attended a wedding reception at the University Club in the past. It’s a lovely place. It is also a “public accommodation.” Contrary to what the name might suggest, it is not a private club, so it is therefore subject to non-discrimination laws like the Illinois Human Rights Act. Because the business is open to the public, and because the law specifically prohibits refusal of service on the basis of sexual orientation, Kristen Stewart’s actions were probably illegal.