Actor Jonathan Bennett and his fiancé, Jaymes Vaughan, claim that Cancun-based Palace Resorts turned away their business because they are gay.
The Hollywood couple, now on the cover of The Knot’s summer issue, discussed the challenges they’ve faced as a same-sex couple planning a wedding.
“When we got engaged, the owner said he couldn’t marry us because we’re two men and it goes against his morals,” he said. “That was a sucker punch to the gut.”
Earlier: Palace Resorts helps feed hungry, cut food waste, in Mérida
It wasn’t the first time the company was accused to turning away same-sex business.
In 2018, Giulia Umile and Jess Herron of Philadelphia alleged that Cancún’s Le Blanc Spa Resort, which is owned by Palace Resorts, refused to host their wedding because they were a lesbian couple. Ultimately, the women were married at UNICO Hotel in the Riviera Maya region.
Bennett, 39, was first known for his role as Lindsay Lohan’s love interest in the “Mean Girls” movie almost 20 years ago. Last fall he was the star of “The Christmas House,” the Hallmark Channel’s first holiday movie to feature a gay storyline.
Vaughan, a television personality who hosts “Celebrity Page” for Reelz, created symbolic rings that the couple will wear for both their engagement and the wedding.
“There really isn’t a precedent for two guys,” Vaughan told The Knot. “I knew we both wanted to wear rings to say we’re engaged. … When you wear the ring diamond-side out, the world sees we’re engaged. When we get married, it flips and the diamonds face us, because my world is more beautiful with you in it forever.”
