The Law of Discrimination (#discrimination #rfra #boycottIndiana #ERA #GBLTQ)
There is in Indiana a small pizza restaurant called Memories Pizza who is refusing to cater same-sex weddings. Why they would think anyone would want pizza at their nuptual celebrations escapes me, but if you are from Walkerton and GBLTQ, you won't be getting your wedding pizza from there. The pizzeria owners have beligerantly shouted their intolerance and defiance of cultural change across the airwaves. They don't care that this is costing them business, because they are getting some measure of support from like-minded people.
As this is happening, I come across this "New Women Warriors" article on CNN, which brought home a point that I hadn't considered. Then the SO reminded me of an event that happened back when I lived in Columbia, South Carolina.
Around the year 2000, the NAACP went to media war with the state over a confederate flag flying on the state house building. In all the hub-bub, almost no one noticed (at first, that is) when local chain Maurice's BBQ put the flag over each of its locations. It took a few months for the news to spread outside of South Carolina and part of the reason it did was because Maurice Bessinger made a grand statement that his religious views required him to refuse service to black customers.
There are a few things you should know about the later (if you don't already). First, Bessinger was distributing pro-slavery literature (cobbled together from 1800s literature) in each of his restaurants. I saw that literature myself. Second, a lot of young (high school / college) black men and women worked for Maurice's BBQ. Long hours, low pay (sometimes working off the clock), and they worked in a hostile workplace environment where that literature was required to be out on the counters in front of them while they were working in a building under a confederate flag. See, Bessinger had no problems employing blacks. He just had issues with them eating in his restaurants, though he would let them buy from him if they took it immediately out of his places of business.
Thirdly, Bessinger argued before SCOTUS in 1968 that he was allowed by his religion to discriminate against blacks and (if I read the brief correctly) claimed the Civil Rights Act was unconstitutional. You know, the federal law that made it illegal to discriminate against people of color. So what Bessinger did, what Maurice's BBQ did (but apparently does no longer now that his kids have taken over) was illegal.
What Memories Pizza is doing, refusing to serve the GBLTQ community? Not illegal at all. Not even on a federal level. And unlike Maurice's BBQ's overt racism and hostility, if it weren't for the public announcement by the pizzeria owners, no one would even know Memories Pizza was being discriminatory until a GBLTQ couple tried to buy wedding pizza. <- Which could still be covered up by saying "I'm sorry we don't do wedding pizza" without anyone being the wiser.
Federal law states that private businesses doing business with the public are required to make accomodations and to not discriminate against employees or customers. The problem is that federal law only covers Race, Color, Religion, and National Origin. It does NOT (and never has) covered Gender, Sexual Orientation, or Sexual Identity. (read that CNN article. It's an eye opener).
So even if the Indiana RFRA act gets repealed or fixed, Memories Pizza can still discriminate against the GBLTQ community. Heck, they could discriminate against women too and there is little we could do about it.
Here's the thing, though. Yelling and screaming and threatening people / businesses who indulge in this reprehensible behavior doesn't do anyone any good. By all means, boycott the business. By all means, pull business out of Indiana. Vote with your wallets, then go to the polls. Encourage your local, state, and federal representatives to pass anti-discrimination laws. But let's not give the haters ammo by posting threats of violence. Such behavior opens us up to arrest and harrassment. If the owners of Memories Pizza want to be stupid, let them be stupid. But don't let their stupid be contagious. We're better than that, especially since we're going to win this fight.
After all, history and culture are on our side.
As this is happening, I come across this "New Women Warriors" article on CNN, which brought home a point that I hadn't considered. Then the SO reminded me of an event that happened back when I lived in Columbia, South Carolina.
Around the year 2000, the NAACP went to media war with the state over a confederate flag flying on the state house building. In all the hub-bub, almost no one noticed (at first, that is) when local chain Maurice's BBQ put the flag over each of its locations. It took a few months for the news to spread outside of South Carolina and part of the reason it did was because Maurice Bessinger made a grand statement that his religious views required him to refuse service to black customers.
There are a few things you should know about the later (if you don't already). First, Bessinger was distributing pro-slavery literature (cobbled together from 1800s literature) in each of his restaurants. I saw that literature myself. Second, a lot of young (high school / college) black men and women worked for Maurice's BBQ. Long hours, low pay (sometimes working off the clock), and they worked in a hostile workplace environment where that literature was required to be out on the counters in front of them while they were working in a building under a confederate flag. See, Bessinger had no problems employing blacks. He just had issues with them eating in his restaurants, though he would let them buy from him if they took it immediately out of his places of business.
Thirdly, Bessinger argued before SCOTUS in 1968 that he was allowed by his religion to discriminate against blacks and (if I read the brief correctly) claimed the Civil Rights Act was unconstitutional. You know, the federal law that made it illegal to discriminate against people of color. So what Bessinger did, what Maurice's BBQ did (but apparently does no longer now that his kids have taken over) was illegal.
What Memories Pizza is doing, refusing to serve the GBLTQ community? Not illegal at all. Not even on a federal level. And unlike Maurice's BBQ's overt racism and hostility, if it weren't for the public announcement by the pizzeria owners, no one would even know Memories Pizza was being discriminatory until a GBLTQ couple tried to buy wedding pizza. <- Which could still be covered up by saying "I'm sorry we don't do wedding pizza" without anyone being the wiser.
Federal law states that private businesses doing business with the public are required to make accomodations and to not discriminate against employees or customers. The problem is that federal law only covers Race, Color, Religion, and National Origin. It does NOT (and never has) covered Gender, Sexual Orientation, or Sexual Identity. (read that CNN article. It's an eye opener).
So even if the Indiana RFRA act gets repealed or fixed, Memories Pizza can still discriminate against the GBLTQ community. Heck, they could discriminate against women too and there is little we could do about it.
Here's the thing, though. Yelling and screaming and threatening people / businesses who indulge in this reprehensible behavior doesn't do anyone any good. By all means, boycott the business. By all means, pull business out of Indiana. Vote with your wallets, then go to the polls. Encourage your local, state, and federal representatives to pass anti-discrimination laws. But let's not give the haters ammo by posting threats of violence. Such behavior opens us up to arrest and harrassment. If the owners of Memories Pizza want to be stupid, let them be stupid. But don't let their stupid be contagious. We're better than that, especially since we're going to win this fight.
After all, history and culture are on our side.