This Shouldn't Be A Law

Kansas took a pass on a ridiculous anti-gay law that essentially enshrined the ability to discriminate against LGBT individuals on the basis of religious belief into law, however, where Kansas wisely decided not to tread, Arizona went ahead and trod- passing State Senate Bill 1062, which seeks to protect business, corporations and people from lawsuits after denying services based on a sincere religious belief.

Pretty much, it wants to be protect people and businesses who refuse to serve LGBT individuals from being sued.

Whether it becomes law is all in the hands of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer now- who could veto the bill, but when even Senator John McCain is coming out and urging her to veto, I think it's safe to say that Arizona has taken a left turn down crazy lane and might want to think about reversing course.

This really shouldn't be a law though.  I mean, leaving the obvious objection aside (it's well, pretty bigoted) this is one arena that can and probably does take care of itself over time.   Discrimination cuts both ways, after all- if there's a business that makes it known that they don't serve LGBT people, I know they wouldn't be getting a penny of my money- and if enough people stay away, it's going to hurt their bottom line at some point.  And given the fact that most businesses only stay in business by making money, should this odious, festering turd of a law actually become a law, an aggressive boycott will undoubtedly ensue- and given the fact that the Super Bowl is coming to Phoenix next year, that's a monetary bonanza that Arizona would be stupid to put at risk with idiocy like this.

Governor Brewer added this as well:

"I think anybody that owns a business can choose who they work with or who they don't work with," Brewer told CNN in Washington on Friday. "But I don't know that it needs to be statutory. In my life and in my businesses, if I don't want to do business or if I don't want to deal with a particular company or person or whatever, I'm not interested. That's America. That's freedom."

This is exactly why this doesn't need to be a law.  Private businesses can pick and choose who they do business with- and again, schoolyard rules apply here too.  Say you're a bakery and you don't want to make cakes for LGBT couples.  In general, that's massively shitty of you in my book, but for the purposes of this example, let's say fine and dandy- but if you get tarred with the well-deserved brush of discrimination and bigotry and it hurts or kills your business, don't come crying to me about it.

But it's the whole 'religious freedom' thing that pisses me off more.  Conservatives, who purportedly want smaller, less intrusive government, risk opening up a whole can of worms with these idiot bills that I don't think they're going to end up liking.  If 'religious freedom' can be used to justify discrimination against LGBT folks, it can be used to justify female genital mutilation, honor killings or even institutionalized racism (a policy which the Mormon Church maintained up until the late 70s.) If you're religious beliefs really dictate that you don't do business with LGBT folk, fine- but it's like free speech:  you can say what you want, but the law doesn't protect you from the consequences of what you say.   Same deal here:  do business how you want and with whom you want but again, don't come crying to me about the results.

The 'religious freedom' schtick that really sends me over the edge though isn't this bullshit (which GOPers know damn well will get knocked down by the courts and hurt businesses in their state which is why I'd be surprised if any of these proposed bills actually make it into law) but it's the 'Pharmacists Against Birth Control' crap that's sprung up in recent years.  Basically, there are pharmacists (usually very Catholic ones, but not always) who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions because of their 'moral objections.'  Which is the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard.  If I have a prescription and I come to your pharmacy and you're earning upward of 90k a year, you damn well give me my damn pills and spare me the lecture.  And if your religious beliefs don't allow you to do that, you better have someone on staff and on duty at all times that can perform that basic service.

But, the thing that utterly lays that argument to waste is, to me, a basic understanding of the central message of Christianity itself, which is namely that you treat others the way you would want to be treated.   Do you think Jesus would refuse to serve anyone?  Because I sure don't.