Last year, voters in the state of Maine endorsed a law barring discrimination against gays. On February 10th of this year, in a single-issue referendum, they narrowly repealed that measure.
Last year, voters in the state of Maine endorsed a law barring discrimination against gays. On February 10th of this year, in a single-issue referendum, they narrowly repealed that measure.
Both proponents and opponents of repeal credited the results to the Christian Coalition, whose executive director, Randy Tate, proclaimed the vote result "A clear victory for people of faith."
Excuse me, but there are a whole lot of folks who consider ourselves "people of faith" who most emphatically do not consider the endorsement of discrimination a "victory." Even denominations whose theologies are not accepting of gay behavior do not usually advocate firing people because they are gay.
Despite the rhetoric of those who claim to speak for all Christians, the issue in Maine and in other states with antidiscrimination statutes has nothing at all to do with "special" rights or "endorsement of the gay lifestyle." Nondiscrimination laws prohibit some people from picking on other people based solely upon identity: racial, religious or sexual. Such laws do not prevent people from being fired; they prevent people from being fired because they are gay–or black, or female, or Christian. These laws do not require hiring anyone who can’t do the job, or serving anyone who can’t pay the bill. They don’t require churches to change their beliefs, or pastors to stop preaching against "lifestyles" of which they disapprove. They don’t require anyone to stop hating members of these groups, but they do prohibit certain specific discriminatory acts based upon such hatreds.
Indiana does not bar discrimination against gays, and the ICLU hears weekly from people fired from longterm employment after being "outed." We get frequent complaints about discriminatory practices at large multifamily housing complexes. Our official disdain for our gay citizens is saddest in the public schools, where young people who "look" gay are routinely subjected to ridicule and physical abuse and where school officials typically shrug off complaints from "sissies."
People of faith with whom I am privileged to work hold a wide variety of opinions about homosexuality, but I have never heard any of them endorse the notion that gays should be fired from their jobs, denied credit, or refused housing. I have never heard a person of faith excuse the behavior of schoolyard bullies on the grounds that they were doing God’s work. People of good will can differ about the best approach to securing civil rights for all citizens; they can certainly argue about the extent of discrimination against this group or that, and whether a legal remedy is warranted. But it takes a really breathtaking moral arrogance to claim that "people of faith" all agree about this or any other law; or that "people of faith" can only be validated if government allows them to discriminate with impunity.
Randy Tate owes people of faith an apology.