11 February 2014

Discrimination Goes Both Ways

Outside the Governor Gary Herbert's office yesterday was a group of 13 men and women, protesting the Utah Senate's refusal to hear SB100, a bill that would make it illegal to refuse housing and employment to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people, based solely on their identity and orientation. Here's the article from The Salt Lake Tribune.

Last week, the House Republican caucus, in a closed door session, decided to kill SB100, (a bill that had a 72% approval in a recent Deseret News poll) along with other bills, by refusing to hear any bill addressing LGBT issues, in order to take the safest course of action so as to not harm the State's position in their appeal of Judge Robert Shelby's decision. House Speaker, Becky Lockhart is quoted by the Tribune saying, "Maybe we should take a step back and see how things go in court. What is the right thing to do in terms of where we are in this process? Where we are right now is the court has it, so let the court deal with it." 

 All of this has gotten me thinking... What if I owned my own business, or was a manager for a company and had the authority to fire an employee? What if I was a landlord, or worked at a bank as a mortgage manager, and had the authority to evict a person or a family?

That employee and that family live an alternative lifestyle from my own. Heterosexual relationships are as backwards, unappealing, and unnatural to me as homosexual relationships are to the heterosexual, not to mention that they violate my own personal religious convictions.

Under the current laws in the State of Utah (local laws aside for simplicity's sake), I would be completely within the law to fire and evict them, based solely on the fact that they are straight, and I believe that it's wrong.

Would this ever happen in Utah? No... discrimination against the majority rarely (if never) happens, and even if it would happen, there would be riots in the streets. But perspective is everything... non discrimination bills go both ways...
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 11, 2014 at 4:37 PM

    I can't believe I live in a state with such a bigoted population, it's sad. And what's sadder, is most of those people that are making these decisions attend the same church meetings I do, and claim to believe in the same God I do. :(

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  2. UnknownFebruary 11, 2014 at 6:30 PM

    I do not know why the legislator would slide out of this voting on this bill given the LDS's church favor on a similar bill in Salt Lake City. Your hypothetical made me remember this story: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/trinity-school-denies-coach-fired-straight-article-1.1553356

    Surely, someone needs to explain a legitimate reason for killing the bill. The excuse they gave is asinine.

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  3. TrevFebruary 12, 2014 at 7:19 AM

    How in the hell would considering this bill weaken their position on marriage? It makes absolutely no sense. It seems like it would actually strengthen it, if anything, as a sign they weren't basing their stance merely on discrimination. Bizarre.

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  4. AaronFebruary 13, 2014 at 10:05 PM

    If anything, this decision demonstrates animus and will weaken Utah's appeal of the 10th Circuit's decision to rule Amendment 3 as unconstitutional. I REALLY hope the ridiculous excuse gets mentioned in a Supreme Court decision ruling marriage equality as an issue of constitutionality (in other words, a decision in favor of marriage equality).

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