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A pair of Christian homeowners in Britain have to let gay couple, Lachlan Mantell and Luke Whitehouse view or buy their house because of their sexual orientation.

Whitehouse, 34, an education business owner, and Mantell, 37, a TV producer, have been together for the past eight years. They were keen on buying the 拢650,000 property.

Whitehouse and Mantell (originally from Adelaide) requested to view the house.

The homeowners, Luke Main, 33, a construction worker, and his wife, Dr Joanna Brunker, 34, a medical physicist at Cambridge University, asked the couple their 鈥減osition鈥� and 鈥渃ircumstances.鈥�

They then sent a message via the selling website Purplebricks to the couple before they could arrange to view the house.

‘Unwilling for Two Men in a Partnership to View or Buy Our House’

They wrote: 鈥淒ear Lachlan and Luke, thank you for sharing your circumstances with us.

“We鈥檙e sorry if we seem intrusive, but we just want to make clear that we would be unwilling for two men in partnership to view or buy our house, as it is contrary to the gracious teaching in God鈥檚 Word, the Holy Bible, e.g. Romans 1:24-28 and Jude 7 (King James Version).鈥�

Romans 1:24-28 and Jude 7 are聽Bible verses about sexual impurity and depravity, and Sodom and Gomorrah.

My partner and I were so excited to begin our journey towards home ownership. This is why lgbtq+ pride, equality and legal protections matter. This is England in 2022. Do you support these sellers ? 馃様

— Lachlan (@LachlanMantell)

Whitehouse said to the Daily Mail, 鈥渋nitially, for the first 10 seconds, I laughed. I thought it was a joke. But then I was upset and angry and I had a cry on the phone to my mum.

鈥淗omophobia still exists, it is still out there. I did not see it coming. I was blindsided by it.鈥�

‘This Kind of Thing Happens and It is Not Acceptable’

Mantell told the it was 鈥渄isappointing鈥� and to have that reaction 鈥渢ook the wind out of our sails.鈥�

鈥淲e don鈥檛 wish the couple any ill will, we just wanted to get a message out that this kind of thing happens and it is not acceptable,鈥� Mantell said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e experienced homophobia before but this seemed like it was on a bigger scale,鈥� Whitehouse said. 鈥淚t was preventing us from progressing in our lives, not just a flippant remark. It felt like the biggest form of discrimination I鈥檝e ever experienced.鈥�

The online real estate agency has taken down the advertisement for the three-bedroom Surrey-based house from its website. It said the homeowners鈥� message was 鈥渃ompletely opposed to Purplebricks鈥� views and values.鈥�

A Purplebricks鈥� spokesperson said they have 鈥渃ontacted鈥� the 鈥渟eller to return their fee鈥� and requested that they 鈥渟ell their property with a different agent.鈥� They also apologised to Mantell and Whitehouse for the experience.

The couple said they will continue to look for a new house and will not take any legal action against the homeowners for their comments.

Homeowners: Not ‘Ashamed of What We Said in Any Way’

Main told the Daily Mail, he would need to check with his wife before he could comment properly.

He added, 鈥渘ot that we鈥檙e ashamed of what we said in any way.鈥�

Sasha Misra, Associate Director of Communications and Campaigns at the non-government-organisation Stonewall said, 鈥渋t is shocking to hear that a gay couple were turned away from buying a property because of their sexuality.

鈥淕ay people should be able to rent or buy property wherever they choose and should not expect to be treated differently because of who they love.

鈥淚nstances like this hark back to an era when it was commonplace to treat lesbian, gay, bi or trans people unfairly, refuse their custom or turn them away from accommodation 鈥� and it simply has no place in Britain today.鈥�

Thanks 鉂わ笍馃彸锔忊赌嶐煂�

— Lachlan (@LachlanMantell)

If you feel distressed reading the story, you can reach out to support services.

For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14

For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or .