On the Daily Show last night they played a clip from Fox News where they compared the situation in Indiana in regards to the so-called religious freedom act to forcing Jews running a bakery to serve Nazis.
My response to that would be:
First and foremost you are not comparing apples and apples. Nazism was a political movement that as part of their core philosophy incorporated racism, anti-Semitism and the extermination of all inferior beings (physical deformed, mentally handicap, etc.) as defined by the Nazi party. Homosexuality is just another common expression of human sexuality. Any moral repugnance is more an expression of a person’s religion or culture. It is no worse or better than heterosexuality, just not as common. To say a person is gay, is no different than saying they are black or blonde or Hispanic. It is simply a characteristic of a person.
While at one level I believe we should be able to do business with only who want to, there are so many areas of life where this is not true now. We cannot choose on the basis of color, ethnicity, religion or gender who we rent or sale a house to, who we serve in a restaurant, who we hire, who we accept into a school and many more things. What the Indiana law is attempting to do is codify a religious belief to allow discrimination against a specific minority. One way to marginalize any group is restrict where and what they can do. I do not find that morally or ethically justifiable.
Really in the long run what is the difference between a sign that reads “Whites Only” or “No Coloreds” and one that reads “No Gays Served”?
One of the big issues waging in the never ending culture wars is “bathroom” laws. This has been brought on by attempting to deal with transgender folks on a level that meets their needs. Transgender people would like use public restrooms that match what they perceive as their gender identity. Many states have passed laws attempting to force transgender people to use public restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates.