A married lesbian couple say they had just finished enjoying a meal at The Stingray Café in New Bern, North Carolina, when they were approached by the owner and handed a letter riddled with spelling errors telling them their homosexuality was hurting everyone around them.

The full letter is transcribed below (sic throughout):

God said in the last days that man and women would be lover of self, more then the lover of God. That man and woman would have unnatural effection for one another. Then, the coming of the Son of Man, who is Jesus. So please, look at your life. See how it hurt every one around you. And ask the Lord to open your eye before it to late. The Love of Christ P.S. my daughter also was gay. It destroy her life and my grandson.

Reached for comment by NewsChannel 12, Ed McGovern confirmed the incident as described by Ariel and Shawnee McPhail.

He told the station that the letter was an act of "love," and that this wasn't his first time handing such a letter to a lesbian couple.

He also claimed that he was spurred by the sight of Ariel and Shawnee kissing outside his cafe.

The McPhails deny any PDA — "we don't kiss in public. We were holding hands" — but say it doesn't matter either way.

"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," Shawnee said. Added Ariel: "If we're experiencing it, then other people are too and that's not fair."

[images via WCTI12]