Gay couple accuses high street jeweller of discrimination after not having ‘hers and hers’ rings

A gay couple has accused H.Samuel of discrimination due to its lack of ‘hers and hers’ rings.

The couple Astria Battisa and Rebecca Miscallef, 28 and 34, visited the high street jeweller in Birmingham Bullring on 7 June asking for identical white gold rings, which cost £1,399. However, the jeweller said they did not come as a package for two women and therefore, the couple would need to get them customised.

H.Samuel also said to the couple it tried to treat all customers equally and was working to resolve the issue.

A spokeswoman from Birmingham LGBT also claimed the wedding industry “is based on ‘hetero-normality’ assumptions” after saying she doesn’t “see a lot of cards for ‘her and her’ and ‘him and him’”.

Miscallef said: “I contacted the customer service team to log a complaint and inform them that the company had breached the Equality Act of 2010. I was informed that these commitment rings are not available to same-sex couples, and I would have to have an alternative made via their bespoke service, which would be at a much higher cost.”

She added: “We feel that H.Samuel has embarrassed us. This is why we are fighting so hard to make sure that no one should be held back from something as natural as love.”

H.Samuel could not be reached by either phone or email for comment on this story.