So how does one deal with these anti-gay “religious freedom”
laws?
Just how are they “enforced” or managed? How does a business “know” a
potential customer gay and, thus, shouldn’t be served because being gay offends
the owner’s religious beliefs? What happens if a business owner isn’t cowering
behind the “religious freedom” curtain, but a waitress in the business says her
beliefs prevent her from serving the gay couple at the corner table? Likewise, I would be angry if I tried to go into a shop with a Christian friend of mine and he or she wasn't allowed in.
Personally, I find the whole thing appalling and repulsive.
That someone can deny service to another person because of his or her religious
beliefs fits not even a sliver of what should be. Nobody should be denied equal
rights for their sexual orientation . . . Why is this different from being
denied service because you’re black, or Asian, or a Muslim, or blonde?
We are a large country filled with an equally large
diversity of people . . . People of all colors and creeds, beliefs, lifestyles
and faiths. Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists, and on and on,
fill America from coast the shining coast. (Let’s not even get into the variety
of beliefs within a faith . . .)
I fundamentally oppose legislation that
purposely and aggressively discriminates against any group of people. We need
sometimes to remind ourselves that we are not a “Christian” nation as some
would have us believe, but a nation founded on principals of fairness and
equality. And while a person’s faith needs to be protected (and is under our
Constitution), that faith should never be imposed on others, or used as a
weapon to discriminate.
It’s easy and short-sighted to discriminate against other
people . . . Not so easy when you are the one being discriminated against. What
happens if a Muslim opens a restaurant and won’t serve Christians . . . ?
Imagine the outcry. Or maybe an atheist opens a bakery and won’t make wedding
cakes for people getting married in a church? Ouch . . . Hear the screams of
outrage . . . Turnabout is fair play, of course. Enjoy the comfort of you couch
while you watch equality dissolve into a bowl of muck.
So if I go into one of these “protected” restaurants, say,
how do they know or not know I’m gay or straight? If I’m gay and they serve me,
is their God going to punish them somehow? A case of don’t ask, don’t tell? Do
they ask if I’m gay? I go in with a friend and she’s gay, but I’m not . . . Do
they serve me and not her? Again, how do
they “know” our sexual preferences? Do we pick up a letter at the hostess stand
. . . “H” for hetro . . . “G” for gay . . . “B” for bi-sexual . . . “U” for
undecided . . . or maybe “C” for celibate . . .
We pin the letter on our shirts? How awkward.
Either you run a business for everyone or you get out of the
business. I don’t care. You make cakes . . . You serve sandwiches . . . You
sell books . . .
I don’t want to go to your church and you don’t want to go
to mine.
These “religious freedom” laws are fakes. There’s no threat
to your religion because some random gay couple wants to buy a cake. People are
people, whether you like it or not.
So-called “religious freedom” is just a high-profile part of
legislative discrimination. All people should receive the same protections
under the law . . . That means we don’t discriminate against people on jobs,
hotels, buying or renting real estate, visiting sick loved ones in hospitals,
or any other such nonsense.
It’s wrong on the face of it and it’s wrong on every level
of exploration. Our politicians are creating false barriers and divisions that
pretend to raise people up because of their beliefs, while putting others down
because of their beliefs. If your religion prevents my friend from having lunch
with me, then fuck you, I don’t care.
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