The parent of a bride-to-be has admitted to not inviting their own brother to the wedding in order to appease the new in-laws — who are ‘extreme homophobes’ that would make a scene at the event.
The anonymous mother or father of the bride shared the story on Reddit this week, explaining that their daughter’s fiancé James comes from a ‘very religious’ family who are quite homophobic.
When James said that his parents wouldn’t ‘tolerate’ a gay person at the wedding,’ the Redditor agreed not to invite their own gay brother — the bride’s uncle — in order to avoid wedding-day drama.
Yikes… The parent of a bride-to-be has admitted to not inviting their own brother to the wedding in order to appease the new in-laws — who are ‘extreme homophobes’ (stock image)
The Redditor said that future son-in-law James is ‘a very nice man with good values and I believe he is perfect for my daughter.’
But James’ family ‘is VERY religious, and after meeting with them before, it’s become pretty clear they’re extreme homophobes, especially his parents.’
Their bigotry became a major issue when it came to wedding planning.
‘My brother is gay and he has a partner he’s been with for a few years now. James’ family knows about this, and it’s something they are really bothered by. They don’t directly tell us, but they’ve mentioned it to James, who has told my daughter, who has told me.
‘So when we were going to send out invitations last week, James told me personally that his family didn’t want my brother to come to the wedding,’ the Redditor wrote.
‘I was quite shocked that they got to the point where they wouldn’t allow me to invite him. My brother was always visiting our house and my daughter always loved to play with him when she was young.
Taking charge: Naturally, the brother was upset — and the bride insisted that her uncle come
‘I told James I was going to invite my brother anyway, because he was very close and my daughter would’ve wanted him there.’
But James — whom the Redditor insists isn’t homophobic himself — passed the message on to his parents, who didn’t take it well.
They came over to say that they ‘were not going to tolerate a gay person at the wedding, and how it was “embarrassing” to accept someone like that.’
‘They told me that if he were to come, he would have to not bring his partner.’
Rather than telling the other couple off, the Redditor tried to appease them, passing the message on to the bride’s uncle and saying that he could come but his partner could not.
‘They did NOT take it well. My brother said that if he was coming, so would his partner. I then told him he couldn’t come because James’ parents would make a scene.
‘He then called me a d*** and said that I don’t have to listen to them and if I truly wanted them to come I would invite them anyway.’
The Redditor was roundly admonished by others on the site, accusing him or her of being homophobic.
‘Excluding gay folk for the comfort of homophobes is inherently homophobic,’ wrote one.
‘And if they make a scene or say anything nasty, someone should be there to escort them out promptly and firmly. The homophobes should not get to have say here. They are the problem. Don’t let them make good people miss a wedding of someone they love,’ said another.
‘To talk to your brother with that way, so cruel! You basically just chose these people you don’t even really know over your own brother. Honestly what were you thinking?’ wrote another.
What’s more, several people wanted to know why he was the ultimate decider of who was and was not coming to the wedding. They questioned why his daughter, the bride, wasn’t brought into the loop.
‘It’s your daughter’s wedding, why are you in charge of inviting people?’ asked one.
‘The people who should be invited to your daughter’s wedding are the people who she and her partner want to invite,’ said another.
Ultimately, the parent of the bride chimed back in to say that the daughter was brought up-to-date on the drama — and she is having none of it.
‘She wants her uncle to come, along with his partner, so that’s what’s going to happen,’ the Redditor wrote.
The Redditor also denied being homophobic, and wants to ‘try and right this wrong.’