There are two things no one denies about Hoosiers – we’re conservative, and we’re religious.
Indiana has been a stronghold for gun-toting, Bible-wielding, Obama-hating Republicans for as long as I can remember. Some members of our state legislature feel that those who are religious in the great state of Indiana don’t have enough rights as is.
State Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, is sponsoring a bill that would allow conservative business owners to refuse service to gays and lesbians on the basis of ?“religious belief.”
Essentially, a religious bakery owner could refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding.
While I find this an abhorrent use of religious belief to justify discrimination, I’m not all too concerned about wedding cakes when I look at ?another provision in the bill.
This legislation would allow adoption agencies to refuse to let same-sex couples adopt children.
Honestly, I feel as though the Republican leadership has lost its battle to stop same-sex marriage in ?Indiana.
Now, out of spite, Republicans are attempting to make life in Indiana as miserable as possible for these newly anointed couples.
If Republicans learned anything this summer, they should have learned that courts would not stand for blatant discrimination against LGBT people in the state of Indiana. Not by the legislature, not by Gov. Pence and not by the people.
I am fairly confident that this measure will be struck down by a judge, perhaps Chief Judge Richard Young. Young was the federal judge who struck down Indiana’s gay marriage ban last year.
It’s the fact that Republicans are still playing this game that is disturbing to me.
Whether it is that they’re ignorantly pressing forward with a policy bound to fail or that they’ve decided to ignore the rights of thousands of Hoosiers, this is maddening on a level I can’t begin to describe.
Everyone has a right to freedom of religion and expression. I’m not arguing that everyone has to be atheist or be opposed to public displays of religious belief.
As a Christian, I would not want the government banning me from wearing my crucifix or from celebrating Christmas.
Meaning, it’s your right to be homophobic; the government can’t force you to be a decent human being. However, the government has the right to block you from creating institutions, open to the general population, that discriminate against certain portions of the population.
Simply put, you have a right to your beliefs. You don’t have a right to a public platform for those beliefs.
By opening your business to the public, you are no longer an individual bigot in a sea of people.
You become a business, an entity which we all have agreed should not have the right to discriminate against race or religion. So why would we allow businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples?
Republicans are sore that they’ve lost the war over same-sex marriage. It’s time they accept this as a fact and move on.
Otherwise, we’ll keep wasting time on this garbage they call legislation.
ajguenth@indiana.edu
