Don't Tread On Me!

I have a habit of wading in controversial waters.  So be it.  Just as long as I've said my piece, because honestly, I'm sick of being silent about this.

The past few months have featured several stories about private bakeries and photographers getting sued for not wanting to do business for gay weddings.  Each of those lawsuits, as far as I'm aware, ended in favor of the same-sex couple, and many have celebrated that as a victory for justice and equality.

I don't.  I see it as nothing but coercive and opppressive, something that threatens the rights of Christians and the LGBT community alike.  Ideally, it sounds great, but realistically the consequences are way more checkered and far reaching.  People are missing something here, and the hypocrisy is glaring.

The argument is that private business owners cannot refuse service that discriminate on basis of things like sexual orientation, religion, race, etc, even on matters of conscience.  So if a conservative Christian makes and sells T-shirts, for example, then under no circumstance can that person refuse service to a gay person wanting T-shirts for an upcoming pride rally they are in.

Sounds fair, IF those making that argument were willing to fully live up to that standard, because replace the words "Christian" with gay and then "gay" with Westbro Baptist Church and see what happens.  See what happens when a gay artist refuses to make T-shirt designs that he knows are going to being used for a Westbro Baptist rally.
I challenge anyone to protest that comparison, because guess what, they each would end up discriminating against one of the taboos: religion or sexual orientation.  If one withholds the Westbro Baptist church's right to a T-shirt on basis of their religion, that is not fair, according to the very same standard the should prevent the Christian from refusing T-shirts for the next Pride parade.  And you'll notice I purposefully chose the Westbro Baptist Church, because they are a group nobody likes (even the KKK said they were over the top!) and yet they still deserve equal rights under the law don't they?

That being said, how many of you would actually stand up for the Westbro Baptist Church if they, just like the same people who keep suing the bakeries and photographers for not doing gay weddings, decided to sue that T-shirt maker?  If so, congratulations, you truly support equal treatment.  If not, good job, I guess only some people can have freedom from discrimination.

Now I realize the scenario I painted is a highly unlikely one, because it's the Westbro Baptist Church.  Why would they ask a gay artist to make them something?  (But then again, why would a gay couple as a conservative Christian artist to make them something?)  That's not the point though.  I painted that scenario to illustrate the flaw here:

You will notice that both of those scenarios came in DIRECT conflict with the businessman's values.  It wasn't simply saying "Oh, that person is X, get out of my shop!" it was "My product is going to be used in such a way that I do not, and cannot support. It runs against my values, and the values of my business, therefore I say no."  It was not for sheer virtue of the customer being this or that.  It was about the venue, not the person.  Hence the refusal of the T-shirt in both instances.
A strict non-discrimination standard makes sense for a more general business where things like sexual orientation are irrelevant, i.e. gas stations, bookstores, or for necessary public accommodations like transportation, hospitals, police response, etc.  Those, I agree, shouldn't discriminate even on matters of conscience because what in the world do your beliefs have to do with those?

The problem I have here is that these lawsuits are being wielded against smaller, private, and often times creative based businesses.  So basically this is saying that the government suddenly has power to force even so much as a hobbyist, stay-at-home photographer to do business with someone against their will? Suddenly, lawsuits can coerce art?
As an artist, that really concerns me.  My art is not your public accommodation.  You do not have a right to my art!  Unless I am working for a company/employer where I am under contract, I have the right to refuse service to anyone for whatever reason, and for that matter I don't even have to give one.  Will I potentially lose business, yes, but that is my risk to take, not yours.

And what about those businesses that expressly target a specific demographic?  Should Christian dating sites be forced to match gay couples?
And the LDS wedding businesses all over Utah, church owned or not?  How many of those will end up closing doors over this?
Did I mention that by this argument, when security asked an intoxicated, same-sex couple groping late at night on Temple Square a few years ago to leave, they should not have been allowed to do that even though that is the church's private property?

You see where I'm going here?  It's not so black and white as it's being made out to be.

What's more ironic is that the very same people who demand equal rights to so much as be able to buy a wedding cake from whomever they want were also silent about, if not complicit in blacklisting individuals/businesses with affiliations with Yes on 8, BYU, the LDS church, or all of the above.  But that wasn't discrimination?  Whatever your thoughts on Prop 8, how is that supposed to be okay if in the next breath you are going to argue that a baker has no right to refuse service to a same-sex wedding on matters of conscience?  Meanwhile, you can pressure employers not to hire applicants with a certain political and/or religious background, all in the name of justice and equality (aka, the principles of your conscience?)  Really?

If I sound frustrated or alarmist, it's because I am.  I am frustrated at how far this is going, and how few seem to notice or care!  And I am alarmed that my own rights would be threatened in such a way by the very same people that simultaneously claim to be protecting them!

It's not because I have a sense of animosity towards gay people, or that I don't see a point in their concerns.  There is a fine line between a legitimate refusal and unrighteous discrimination, but in efforts to prevent the latter, that line has been crossed to the point that I can't even have individual freedom as a private artist?

Maybe it's just that I've adopted more of a libertarian stance on this particular issue.  Don't force your orientation down my throat, and I won't force my religion down yours.  Respect my beliefs, and I'll respect yours.  Don't make me do something you know full well I am not comfortable with. Leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone.  Simple as that.

Don't tread on me!
(Okay, so that line isn't expressly libertarian, but you get the point).