CENTRALIA, Wash. (KING) – A restaurant in Washington state is facing a wave of scrutiny after deciding not to cater a gay wedding because of the owner’s religious beliefs.

Rayah Calkins and her fiancée, Lillian Glover, are heartbroken after receiving unexpected news about the wedding they had planned for January. JJ’s To Go restaurant, which was expected to serve gay weddings, backed out due to the religious beliefs of its owner.

“It was a shock to me,” Calkins said. “We have never confronted this blatant discrimination.”

The decision came after a month-long discussion with the restaurant over Instagram to prepare the food for the big day.

The couple met in person with the restaurant’s owner, Jessica Britton, on Saturday to finalize the deal, but it didn’t happen. They say Britton canceled after finding out they were lesbians.

“To tell you after visually seeing the two of you together that this isn’t something they can move forward with is something you can’t really understand right now,” Calkins said.

Britton says he does not discriminate against anyone and that this decision is a matter of his faith.

“We love them. Jesus loves them. “They are human beings like us,” he said. “For a wedding to be a religious ceremony and a religious act between a man and a woman is against my faith and belief and I cannot participate.”

He says there were constant threats to his family as the news spread.

“Hundreds of people told me it would be better if I wasn’t alive,” Britton said.

Calkins says he and his fiancee don’t want anyone to threaten or do anything violent, but they encourage peaceful protests. The couple also plans to take legal action against the restaurant.

Until then, they are happy that another catering company, Crowded Kitchen in Toledo, has accepted them and their marriage.

“When we shook their hands, I said, ‘You’re family with us now,'” Calkins said. “You just stood up. It was probably one of the biggest, hardest moments we’ve ever faced in our lives.”

In 2013, a Richland florist refused to provide flowers for a gay couple’s wedding. The Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the florist violated the state’s anti-discrimination law. His lawyer appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which later upheld the lower court’s decision.

The owner of the flower shop agreed to pay the couple $5,000 in 2021.

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