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Manager of Brighton hotel rejects allegations as lies and says he turned them away because they were 'rude and aggressive'
A young lesbian couple who were refused a double room in a Brighton hotel are taking legal action against the manager who they say threw them out because of their sexuality.
Rebecca Nash, 22, and Hope Stubbings, 19, who are being backed by the campaign group Liberty, claim they booked their accommodation at the Brunswick Square Hotel by telephone but once they arrived they were refused by the manager.
Contacted by the Guardian, the hotel manager accused the pair of lying and said he denied them a room because they were "loud and aggressive".
The couple, who decided on the spur of the moment to go for a romantic getaway on the south coast, said they chose the gay-friendly Sussex seaside city because they would feel safe.
Nash, an administrator for a data communications company, had sprung the idea on her girlfriend by text as she made her way to Portsmouth to meet her off the ferry from her home in the Isle of Wight on Saturday 23 October last year.
She booked a £65 double room at the hotel by phone, giving her details to the "really friendly" manager, Nasser El Din, and called again before they arrived to make sure the room was theirs, she said.
"I said: "Hi, I'm Rebecca, the girl you spoke to earlier" and then Hope walked in behind me and the manager said: "No, I don't have any rooms. We only accept couples and families."
Nash said that when they explained they were a couple, El Din became agitated, saying: "No two boys, no two girls."
She said she reminded him she had booked the room and that he had her card details and he replied he had destroyed her card details. He then became more aggressive, Nash said, ushering them down the corridor out of the hotel.
"At the door, I said to him, 'Please, please give us a room, we have nowhere else to stay,' and he said: 'I'm sorry, I don't accept rejects in our hotel' and slammed the door in our faces."
"It was really hurtful," said Nash. "We don't flaunt our sexuality but we feel strongly that if we did not highlight this then we would be letting down the LGBT community. We don't want anyone else to feel the way we were made to feel."She said the case was not about money and if they won damages, they would donate some to a Brighton charity.
When the Guardian called the hotel, a man answered, saying he was the manager but declined to give his name. He said: "We have replied to Liberty and what these girls are saying is a pack of lies.
"There is no credit card, no booking. We have been in Brighton, the centre of the gay community in Europe, for 20 years. They were loud and aggressive and we don't need to accommodate people who are rude and aggressive."
In January, a gay couple each won £1,800 in compensation after a judge ruled that the Christian owners of the Chymorvah private hotel in Cornwall acted unlawfully by refusing them a double room.
