Gay people don’t know “when to stop” pressuring Christians about their right to marry, said the owner of a streetcar rental company in North Carolina who wanted to hire a gay couple for their wedding.

“We do not offer weddings to persons other than a man and a woman.” That was the final response from a Christian woman who was contacted by her fiancés Daniel Sheehan and Matt Price in July about transportation for friends and family at their upcoming wedding.

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“We were just trying to get our grandparents and guests from point A to point B,” Sheehan said People Magazine. “It shouldn’t have been the most complicated part of our planning process.”

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While the couple was sad and angry about the streetcar owner’s response, they were even more concerned about the reaction of Sheehan’s 90-year-old grandmother, Ginny Parasiliti.

“She was afraid of exactly what we would experience if I came out,” Sheehan said. “I knew it would hurt her if she knew what happened.”

In fact, she was angrier than her.

“Hi guys, I am just livid with ANGRYNESS!!!!!” Parasiliti texted Sheehan after the cancellation made the rounds in the family.

“But I will not let these fanatics spoil my excitement for your wedding,” she wrote. “Christianity is about loving each of us and the path we have chosen!!!! Love is who we choose as our partner and the one who completes our lives!!!! Hold your heads high and be PROUD of who you are!!! Amazing people!!!!! I love you with all my heart. ♥️”

In a follow-up text, Parasiliti added: “I have a new recipe for you. Tuscan chicken. I’m sending it to you. 👍💕💕💕”

Sheehan and Price said they were “surprised” by another sign of love and support from the Catholic grandmother, a first-generation Italian American.

“She is a light in my life,” Sheehan said of Parasiliti, who raised him with his grandfather when his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“She speaks so openly for me and has become a grandmother to my friends, many of whom have had less than pleasant coming out experiences,” he said.

“She’s an incredible balance of sweet and fiery that I don’t think you always find in someone, but I think she really embodies that,” Price added. “She’s just been amazing to me, to both of us, and has helped strengthen our relationship.”

Sheehan and Price decided not to respond directly to the trolley owner, but instead posted a warning to other LGBTQ+ people in a Google review of their business. This really infuriated the Christian woman: She sent the couple a hostile email in which she wrote that their behavior would “cause Christians to vote out of fear” and create “more martyrs for the Trump cause.”

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back LGBTQ+ protections with its ruling in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, which found that businesses can deny services to gay and transgender people in some cases. This court decision is unlikely to apply to a trolley rental business, as the court’s decision primarily states that people who provide “creative” services cannot be legally compelled to write texts that do not conform to their personal religious beliefs.

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