Yahoo Lifestyle 
Couple sues printing company over homophobic wedding leaflets
An Aussie gay couple were shocked when they received homophobic pamphlets instead of the wedding programs they had ordered.
Stephen Heasley, 31, and Andrew Borg, 39, ordered programs for their September wedding from a popular printing company, but instead received a boxful of anti-gay pamphlets warning, “Satan entices your flesh with evil desires”.
“At first we thought it was simply a mistake, and we had accidentally received someone else’s order,” the couple told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“But once we saw the images and actually read a bit of the pamphlet, we quickly realised this wasn’t a simple or innocent error.
“Both of our initial reactions were ones of shock … utter shock. The wording and imagery was aggressive, threatening, and deeply personally offensive.”
They have now filed a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and emotional pain. The claim was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the state where the company in question, Vistaprint, is based.
“This was by far the most direct, personal, and aggressive act of homophobia either of us has experienced to date,” they added.
The shipment of homophobic pamphlets arrived on the eve of their ceremony and a party for 100 guests.
The actual programs ordered by the couple were supposed to have listed the order of events, members of their wedding party, and lyrics to the Above & Beyond song “Treasure,” which played as they walked down the aisle.
Instead, the fire-and-brimstone pamphlets they received warned that, among other notions, “Satan knows our flesh is weak. He preys upon our weaknesses to tempt us to sin. Satan can only influence us to want to sin. He cannot make us sin.”
The men did not immediately (or at any time since) contact Vistaprint to inquire about the bizarre mailing. Instead, they paid to have quick replacements printed up and went ahead with their wedding — though it was marred by anger and fear, they say.
“We realised that whoever had sent this had our personal addresses,” said Stephen.
“We were getting married on a family farm in what we understand to be a fairly conservative and rural part of Pennsylvania. If ill-intentioned people decided to target our wedding and guests, we would have very few options to escape or seek shelter.”
The couple then hired legal representation to go after Vistaprint, and are now seeking an award of unspecified damages and a trial by jury.
When contacted by Yahoo Lifestyle, Vistaprint spokesperson Sara Nash offered the following response:
“Vistaprint would never discriminate against customers for their sexual orientation. We pride ourselves on being a company that celebrates diversity and enables customers all over the world to customise products for their special events.
“We have just been made aware of this incident in the last few hours. We understand how upsetting it would be for anyone to receive materials such as these the night before their wedding and we have immediately launched an internal investigation. Until we have had the opportunity to complete our investigation, we cannot comment further.”
Both Stephen and Andrew say the entire experience left them feeling rattled by anger and fear - emotions that have not yet subsided.
“After four months of being married, the pain from those memories has not faded,” says Stephen.
“Andrew describes his hurt as though feeling like someone has completely robbed him of what would have turned out to be nothing short of a brilliant wedding.”
It’s why they’ve gone the legal route, they say, noting, “Our goal is to hold Vistaprint accountable for the harm they have caused, to give a voice to others who may have been similarly victimised, to help prevent this from happening to someone else, and to send a message that there will be consequences for acts of hate perpetrated against others.”
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