DISCRIMINATION: Society is moving too fast for the government to keep up, leaving minorities in the dust again.
By Amy Wang, Opinions Editor
When the Arizona legislature passed a bill that allowed individuals to use religious beliefs as a defense against a lawsuit, the media clamored in protest of the law that passed off discrimination as “religious freedom.” By allowing businesses to refuse service to individuals on the shaky grounds of personal beliefs protected by the Second Amendment, homosexuals in particular become the primary targets of unfair prejudice. Lawsuits against businesses that discriminate would have a legal argument for unjust treatment. Polls on news sites such as CNN showed majority opposition to the bill, and even Republicans in Arizona, in a two to one vote, asked that Arizona governor Jan Brewer veto the bill, not sign it. Regardless of political standpoint, one thing is clear: discrimination is not acceptable in our society.
During a debate, bill sponsor State Senator Steve Yarbrough argued, “This bill is not about allowing discrimination. This bill is about preventing discrimination against people who are clearly living out their faith.” And in what religion does it say it’s acceptable to spread hate? Where in the Bible or any other religious text does it say to turn away from your fellow man simply because he’s different?
For the same reason we do not allow businesses to turn down people of color, allowing businesses to turn away homosexuals or any other minority because it clashes with their owners’ personal religious beliefs is not only morally troubling but also legally worrisome. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Fifty years ago we agreed as a country that discrimination is unconstitutional. Now it’s time to add sexuality to the list of what we protect.
While the bill was indeed vetoed by governor Brewer, the problem unfortunately did not die then. Five other states are considering similar laws that allow business owners to use religion as a weapon of discrimination instead of as what religion really ought to be – a power for peace that connects people, rather than raising walls between them and calling that “fair.”
It’s time for everyone to wake up and smell the roses; our society is evolving, and we can’t afford to have the ones in charge lagging behind. With polls showing that more Americans than ever support gay marriage, it is apparent that our country is slowly but surely becoming more and more accepting of homosexuality.
Once upon a time, it was illegal for a black man to use the same facilities as a white man. Once upon a time, interracial marriages were unspeakable and protested against. Sounds familiar, huh? History repeats itself in uncanny ways, but instead of learning from the past, we’re stuck in the same cycle of ignorance with a different subject this time.
Your discomfort, disdain or even disgust towards someone different doesn’t give you the right to impose your beliefs upon him or her and restrict that individual with your rules. Because guess what? That gay couple getting married has nothing to do with your own life. Neither do the lesbians sitting at the dinner table, enjoying their time together, or that transgender person on Facebook who has his gender set as “Female to Male”. What they do does not impose on your beliefs or your personal life, so don’t force your actions to impose upon theirs.
We as a society are growing more accepting and more open to differences. We are getting better, but better is not good enough. We’ll discuss “good enough” when discrimination ends once and for all.