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Well, well, well, what a day we’ve had here at ISBL; we’ve spent the morning with the likes of Mike Huckabee, who has gay friends, y’all, but says that being gay is a lifestyle like people who drink or swear. And then we had a delightful afternoon with Tony Perkins, of the hate group Family Research Council, who says that if gays post picture on Facebook pages we are persecuting Christians.
So, to carry on that theme, let’s end the day with another idiot: Nathan Winters.
Winters is both a Pastor — well, he says he’s a pastor, but he sounds very un-Christ-like — and a State Representative out there in Wyoming, who just saw his bill, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act [RFRA] pass the Wyoming House.
As originally written, it was basically a bill that allowed people to cite their religious beliefs as an excuse for not serving The Gays, but it was amended to ensure that The Gays will not be discriminated against by state employees, you know, like clerks who are hired to issue marriage licenses and such.
But, if Winters’ bill passes the state senate and if Matt Mead, the Republican governor of Wyoming, sign it, anyone … anyone … in the private sector will be able to refuse to serve any LGBT person merely by citing their supposed deeply held religious beliefs.
We’ve seen these bills before, but what makes this so hilarious, and offensive, is that the “Good” Pastor, and the “Asshat” Representative, Nathan Winters says his bill does not “provide the right to discriminate”: but is more of an anti-coercion bill because it doesn’t force someone whose religion opposes a situation, i.e. the LGBT community, to do something they disagree with … like serving a gay person.
He says the bill affirms the right of people to practice their faith but, correct me if I’m queer, I didn’t realize that anyone on Wyoming wasn’t allowed to practice their faith. Oh, by practice their faith, he means to discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation because that’s what God wants.
So LGBT folks in Wyoming — ironically the state’s nickname is the Equality State … no lie … and it’s motto is “equal rights” — will become ‘less than’ if Winters’ bill passes and is signed into law. Sure, no state agency can refuse to serve The Gays but every single other business in the state will be allowed to do so if they utter those simple words:
“God hates Fags.”
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via NCRM
When did the "practice of religion" become the "practice of commerce" with "sincerely (or deeply) held religious beliefs"? And what is the criteria for determining how sincerely or deeply one holds ones beliefs?
ReplyDeleteI recently googled "number of christian denominations" and was overwhelmed by the Wikipedia entry. Which of these religions will be discriminating against the others or fighting about whose religious beliefs are sincere and deep enough to hate the gays?
these "religious" asshats get more batshit crazy by the day!
ReplyDeleteOh, Wyoming!
ReplyDeleteMy brother lives out there and keeps telling me we should move there. Just another reason to refuse!
ReplyDeleteThat was the same argument used when such a bill was passed in AZ. It gave decent Christians the freedom to refuse service if their sincerely held religious beliefs told them to. They claimed it was not aimed at gays but, of course, everyone else their beliefs might want to refuse service is protected the federal Civil Rights Act. When one of sponsors was asked if the bill wasn't just a way to allow discrimination against gays he said the was ridiculous. The law only applied to those with sincerely held religious beliefs and such people would never discriminate against anyone.
ReplyDeleteIt passed houses but our governor vetoed it because the business community opposed it and feared the NFL would move the Super Bowl. Others also pointed out that, with the exception of 3 incorporated cities local ordinances, it was already legal to refuse service to gays, even without sincerely held religious beliefs. The governor felt the best way to address this very real need was for the voters in those cities to repeal their civil rights ordinances to bring them into line with the rest of the state.
Why am I not surprised
ReplyDeleteThis is just so very depressing; one step forwards, two steps back....the right will never stop until we are all gone
ReplyDeleteLet the haters continue fighting this losing battle. The will fail in the end.
ReplyDeleteIt looks as though we have yet another long court battle ahead of us, repealing all of the anti-LGBT laws that are springing up like dandylions after a summers rain.
ReplyDelete