Same Sex Couple Denied Family Rate At Pool In Idaho

June 9, 2009

POCATELLO - A same-sex couple and their three foster children were denied a reduced admission price to a pool in eastern Idaho because the Lava Hot Springs State Foundation says the five don't fit the definition of a family.

Amber Koger and Jeri Underwood say they and their three children were recently denied the resort's advertised family admission price.

Mark Lowe, executive director for the Lava Hot Springs State Foundation, says the state doesn't recognize gay or lesbian marriage and defines a family as one male, one female and children.

He says as a state agency the foundation must follow Idaho law.

But Monica Hopkins of the American Civil Liberties Union in Boise says state code defines marriage but has no universal definition of a family.