Melissa McCord and her partner, a couple from Florida and mothers of two, decided to hire a wedding planner to officially get married under Florida's Marriage equality. The couple contacted Lana Rusev of Simply Elegant Wedding Planning to get the process underway, but Rusev refused to plan their wedding ceremony. At first, she responded that she was booked for that weekend anyway, but then went out of her way to add "due to my strong personal belief I do not feel comfortable planning a wedding for lesbian couples. I hope you understand and not take this personally" which, of course, is a super personal comment.
After Rusev started to receive hateful comments on her Facebook page, she told WTLV that the hateful comments on her wall were a reminder of the oppression she herself faced before she fled the Soviet Union because she and her family were persecuted for her beliefs. While that discrimination and persecution should not be undermined, Rusev is certainly not the victim in this case because she can consistently live her life as a straight, white woman without being told that her lifestyle makes anyone uncomfortable.
Check out this interview with both McCord and Rusev about their thoughts on the issue:
