New Hampshire Republicans are taking their hatred of the LGBT community to new heights. Not only are they trying to repeal gay marriage in the state, they are now pushing a bill that if passed, would allow businesses to discriminate against married same-sex couples.
HB 1264, similar to religious exceptions found in anti-bullying bills in Tennessee and Michigan, would give businesses the right to deny services to married same-sex couples on religious grounds. From the bill:
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person, including a business owner or employee thereof, shall be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges to an individual if the request is related to the solemnization, celebration, or promotion of a marriage and providing such services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges would be a violation of the person’s conscience or religious faith. A person’s refusal to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges in accordance with this section shall not create any civil claim or cause of action or result in any state action to penalize or withhold benefits from such person.”
This bill is now in committee and has a real chance of getting through. It gives New Hampshire business owners the power to discriminate against same-sex couples and any kind of couple they may oppose such as interracial couples. This is a concrete violation of the Civil Rights Act. Essentially, this bill allows hospital owners, school owners, owners of sporting facilities, and businessmen in general, to refuse service to couples they see as a violation of religious beliefs. It also gives employers the right to discriminate against gay employees as well, and prohibits the discriminated from filing legal complaints against the businesses. So this bill is designed to protect those who hate and takes rights away from those who are the victims of discrimination. It makes same-sex couples powerless to fight back. This bill is a pro-bullying bill. This is hate disguised as religious freedom and should not be tolerated in America. New Hampshire is quickly changing from a state of tolerance to a state of short-sighted bigotry and hatred, all in the name of Christianity.
Prior to the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, a ‘common enemy of the state’ was sought out. There was ‘testing’ of several different groups of people, and these people were placed in order of the rating of discontent of the people.
We tend to forget that during those times, it was not only the Jewish People who were scorned but included were the gay, the mentally ill, Moslem and any Christian community that did not fit the current agenda.
Now as then, there are religious and political leaders haranguing the populace into, if not hatred but disgust for groups that do not fit into their agenda.
History does repeat, even if the road has differing scenery.
Can I refuse to rent or sell something to a Republican hetero
couple? Just askin’.
If the homophobes get laws like they want passed, who’s next?
Didn’t we learn anything about the Nuremberg Laws of WWII? If
we don’t know our history, we are bound to repeat it.