A lesbian couple from California have said a restaurant owner handed them a letter condeminig homosexuality as they paid and left.

Ariel and Shawnee McPhail said they went to eat at The Stingray Café in New Bern, North Carolina, on 4 December, and as they were leaving, owner Ed McGovern, handed them a letter apparently stating God’s opposition to homosexuality.

The letter read: “God said in the last days that man and wom[a]n would be lover of self, more [than] the lover of God, reports WCTI12.

“That man and woman would have unnatural [affection] for one another. Then, the coming of the Son of Man, who is Jesus. So please, look at your life. See how it hurt[s] everyone around you. And ask the Lord to open your eye[s] before it [is] to[o] late.

“The Love of Christ… P.S. my daughter also was gay. It destroy[ed] her life and my grandson.”

Mr McGovern reportedly admitted giving the letter to the couple, and said he did it “out of love”. He went on to say that he disapproved of the couple kissing outside his cafe.

The couple denied kissing, but said there shouldn’t be a problem, even if they had been. Shawnee McPhail said:

“First of all, we didn’t kiss. We don’t kiss in public. We were holding hands,” she said. “Secondly, if I did kiss my wife in public, what married couple would you go to and say, ‘how dare you. You cannot hold hands and you cannot kiss in public therefore you deserve my judgement.'”

Her wife, Ariel McPhails said: “If we’re experiencing it, then other people are too and that’s not fair.”

Anti-gay evangelist, Scott Lively, recently said in an interview that he thought gay rights were bringing the “wrath” of God, which was a sign that the world was nearing the “End Days”, just like before Noah’s flood.