Moline club manager refuses to host gay couple's wedding

June 22, 2012 (MOLINE, Ill.) (WLS) -- Civil unions between same-sex couples are legal in Illinois, but not everyone in the state is willing to accept that as a couple in Moline, Ill., just found out.

Taylor Shumaker and her partner of three years were interested in the historic University Club in downtown Moline to have their wedding reception.

Club manager Kristen Stewart offered Taylor a tour this week, and asked if ''he'', her fiancé would come too.

When Taylor said her partner was a woman, Stewart told her she didn't book homosexual couples because of her religious beliefs.

"Because marriage is a covenant that God created for man and woman, then, as a biblical Christian, I cannot help them enter into or celebrate that sin," said Stewart.

"I cried when I got off the phone because, honestly, I wouldn't have called there if I knew it was their policy, if that would have been on their website from the very beginning, I wouldn't have wasted my time," said Shumaker.

Stewart's refusal appears to be illegal under the Illinois Department of Human Rights Act.

Stewart says her husband's family, who owns the club, doesn't share her beliefs. Her husband later said his wife "misspoke" and there's no ban on same-sex marriage in his club.

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