Why You Can Take Your Lame Freedom-of-Association Arguments and Stick Them up Your Ass

 

 

I have observed many television commentaries regarding the issue of equality for homosexuals from the vantage point of my cage. One of the arguments used by opponents of laws banning discrimination against homosexuals relies on the "freedom of association" clause of the U.S. Constitution, which they interpret as meaning that they don't have to associate with homosexuals and can refuse to hire them or rent property or offer admittance to them on those grounds. But the fact is that freedom of association is already severely curtailed.

Most of the folks who are so upset by gays and lesbians and would prefer to be able to refuse them lodging, accommodation, membership, employment, hospital visitation privileges, and inheritance eligibility are evangelical or fundamentalist Christians. They claim that their beliefs, which are (and should be) constitutionally protected, are at risk. However, could That Which Provides Food, who is as gay as an Easter basket, run a business and refuse to hire or serve Christians or members of any other religion? Of course, the answer is no, because religion may not legally be the basis for discrimination. Many gays claim that sexual orientation--wherever on the continuum between pure heterosexuality and pure homosexuality--is an inborn, unchosen condition, and their loving opponents claim that they are wrong, that homosexuality must be a choice (or the punishment of God, who leads them into unnatural vices owing to their essentially reprobate natures) as God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, ad nauseam. Thus, as homosexuality is a choice and against the will of God, it is not worthy of protection. But since when is Christianity not something chosen freely? Doesn't that very religion acknowledge that you humans have free will? So, to be blunt, Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps and their ilk want to have their cake but keep gays from eating it, too: Christian businesses can discriminate against gays, but gays can't discriminate against Christians. Don't get me wrong: I'm not singling out fundamentalist or evangelical Christians in this regard, because a large cross-section of you humans, saved and unsaved, can be perfect assholes to each other on the basis of a staggering number of purely cosmetic differences, and for that reason I think that your antidiscrimination laws are splendid and necessary. But if you want to draw the line somewhere, why don't you just get rid of the idea altogether.

 

© 2000 Gregor Everitt