tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506857.post114228120470077072..comments2007-04-15T04:01:34.895-04:00liberranterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00555275410576294081noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506857.post-1146176218708020582006-04-27T18:16:00.000-04:002006-04-27T18:16:00.000-04:00<I>News flash for you, Butch: NO ONE HAS AN OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A GOOD OR SERVICE.</I><BR/><BR/>Actually, they do. If you go into business providing any sort of product or service to the public, you subject yourself to civil rights law, and you agree to operate on a non-discriminatory basis.<BR/><BR/>That's why the Woolworth's lunch counter doesn't get to refuse to serve African-Americans--because of Federal Civil Rights Acts. Those acts don't (yet) prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but an operative county ordinance does, in this case.<BR/><BR/>On a moral level, the store owner is a bigot, a busybody, and a pest. That, at least, should be clear to everyone.<BR/><BR/>Whether or not there should be these kinds of laws is somewhat more debatable, but presumably the county commissioners were elected freely and fairly, so the local consensus would seem to support the law. People's opinions are often informed by whether or not they themselves have been or think they might become victims of discrimination.Sportin' Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03743113352501671540noreply@blogger.com