A new
Associated Press-GfK poll finds that although more Americans support marriage equality (44 percent) than oppose it (39 percent), 57 percent also think it should be perfectly legal for people to refuse service to same-sex couples.
David Kenney, a self-employed Catholic from Novi, Michigan, said he's fine with same-sex marriage being legal. He's among the 57 percent of Americans who said wedding-related businesses — such as florists — should be allowed to refuse service if they have an objection rooted in their religion.
…
Kenney isn't alone. About a quarter of those who favor legal same-sex marriage also favor religious exemptions for those who issue marriage licenses, the poll finds, and a third say wedding-related businesses should be allowed to refuse service.
Geri Rice, who lives near San Francisco and works in law firm management, strongly favors gay marriage. She's torn about whether a public official with religious objections should be exempt from issuing a license but says she believes that business owners should be allowed to tell somebody no thanks.
"I don't like it," Rice said, "but I think they have the right."
Well, there you have it. Another lesson in
Religious Freedom = Discrimination. Just to be clear, in the vast majority of states and municipalities across the country it’s still perfectly legal to refuse service to LGBT citizens. Although
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people from being refused service on the basis of their race, color, religion, or national origin, no such federal protections exist for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals.
But what the poll really indicates is that people are profoundly confused about the term "religious freedom." The First Amendment does not guarantee us the right to discriminate based on our religion, it instead guarantees us the right not to be discriminated against based on our religious beliefs.
What this poll is saying is, let's forget about the foundational principles of everyone being “created equal” for a second. Instead, we should really allow business owners to look someone in the eye and say, “You’re not worthy of service here because, in my personal religious view, you’re less of a human being than other folks who walk through that door.”
I wonder how Ms. Rice or Mr. Kenney would feel if someone looked them in the eye and said that.
Or what if certain business owners simply started refusing to serve married people altogether because they religiously opposed the institution? No service for anyone who’s married.
Is that their vision of "religious freedom?" Declining service for anyone, for any reason, at any time. Because if we’re going to do it to gays, let’s just do it to everyone. If we’re really going elevate that twisted version of "religious freedom" over the principle of equality, then the spiritually enlightened should just have free reign to do whatever they want. That would be the fairest, don’t you think? No protections for anyone. Just the religiously righteous doing as they see fit, exacting judgment on others whenever they feel like it. Gays, people of color, women, people who are Jewish or Muslim or even Christian, whatever. It’s all fair game as long as your religion tells you so.
That’s exactly what religious fanatics want. And anyone who buys into the idea that they should be able to refuse service to gays is actually promoting the idea that they should be able to refuse service to anyone, indiscriminately across the board. Discrimination for everyone. Amen.