Hilton Steps In After Sheraton Refuses To Host Gay Wedding

@Ben "As someone who has gotten (gay) married, and has tried to explain to people that a gay wedding is the same as a straight wedding" You know that is not true Ben. You and I both know each table has to have an equal distribution of Twinks, Daddies, Bears, Cubs, and guys into leather. ;)

@Max "I think people should not try to enforce their ‘believe system’ on others and especially not on whole countries that they are not even citizen of." Nope, they are wrong. Sometimes a belief system is ethically superior to whatever is being practiced in that region. Screw political correctness. This moral relativism reminds me of how the British dealt with the burning of widows when the husband died: "Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs." Back to your response: "There are already enough gay-friendly places all over the world, it’s not longer some kind of opaque minority that needs to fight for anything." Not true at all. I think that by making place more LGBT accepting we are benefiting local LGBT residents. "At the same time they are using their own freedom, they should have enough decency and respect to give others the freedom to decide to follow other, more restrictive/traditional/religious/family-orientated lifestyles." The traditions those individuals have are backwards and wrong. I suppose if your mother visited some Middle Eastern Theocracy and her veil slipped you would be okay with the Vice and Virtue police beating her? "If you have just 5 big hotel-chains that are owning the global market, it becomes a big threat to cultural diversity." Again, their culture is inferior.

I think you should slow your role. There must've been some miscommunication. Mexico is very friendly, especially PVR; but as a guest you need to make sure that they understand your criteria and that you respect the culture. -A Gay Mexican-American

Am I the only one who finds this to be such a hyped up drama? Firstly, I read the “equal wedding” as a bad translation for same sex wedding. Secondly, even if they specialised in gay weddings, why would they be researching someone online and make them a better deal just because they are an “influencer”! What happened to equality there? I do agree that for a brand like Sheraton, at a gay friendly destination, it is surprising and disappointing that they don’t (want to) deal with same sex weddings. But why is it so offensive when all they are saying is that they don’t want to ruin their special day due to the lack of “specialism”? I am not arguing any of the comments about all weddings being the same etc etc... but rather than the anti-LGBTQ+ label that was swiftly awarded, I’d be much more concerned about the issue with the phone numbers, the voicemail, and the overall poor customer service! And yes, I am one of the letters in LGBTQ+!

@ben my sister had fab wedding in PV at the Westin. She and her wife were pampered by many staffers and GM upgraded them to the extremely nice Pres suite. So to throw this on Marriott as a generalization as some are doing here is unfair. And as a journalist - while this clearly looks bad, I agree with others who believe it’s difficult to really understand the full context of the situation without seeing the entire communication start to finish. A trial should have all the facts, from both sides before verdict is decided. Right ? Or do we just give everyone a fair trial then hang them ? You are the best Travel Blogger on Earth Ben, and it’s understandable to be emotional on something like this. But always try to keep your perspective even when it’s the hardest thing to do - correction: ESPECIALLY when it’s close to home and unusually hard to do.