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Yeah, that is funny... well maybe not so funny...
You are talking about freedom of association. I should have the freedom to associate or not associate according to my own preferences.
Of course it gets wierd. You see a sign that says "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone". Seems like you should be able to say that, but really you can not. Should not? Maybe.
Some years ago when I was young and naive. Maybe I should just say younger and dumber. I was going to a state college in Denver. Walking home one day I came across a bar. Hot and thirsty I went in. Initially I thought I had stumbled into a paradise. The place was full of girls, well women. I was the only guy in there. Cool! I thought. I put some quarters up on the pool table...
'Course it wasn't long before I figured out that I wasn't particularly welcome there.
Freedom of association... so they say.
This has very little to do with freedom of association. The "right" of a business to refuse to serve people based on their "race," skin color, sex, religion or national origin has been gone for over 40 years, and good riddance to it. In NM, as well, it appears that businesses are also prohibited from refusing to serve people based on their sexual orientation.
The issue here, if any, is freedom of speech, including the freedom not to engage in speech that one finds repugnant. If the photographer refused to shoot the wedding because she didn't want to create artworks about or advocating same-sex marriage or homosexuality, then the NM decision would seem to me to violate the First Amendment – the same as if you had to create an ad campaign for the Nazis or the KKK. On the other hand, if the photographer simply didn't want to provide any service of any kind to the couple because they were lesbians and irrespective of the speech issue, then I see no problem.
"When the government attempts to force tolerance, the result is to breed intolerance and contempt. It is actions like this case that divide rather than unite."-Mario Burgos
So are you saying since the civil rights act passed in the 60s that the KKK and Neo-Nazis groups have grown in numbers??
Since the government acted on criminalzing slavery and discrimination things have only gotten better for those groups. Your premise doesnt hold an ounce of reality.
Although I think in these cases it revolves around finding NO business that offers you a service. All restaurants were discriminating against minorities.
If all photographers are refusing service to homosexuals then I could see a problem but I doubt that is the case.
I know one thing. People who think this photgrapher was wrong can just avoid them at all costs. Losing money hurts more than anything and I dont need a court to tell me who is an ignorant and intolerant business. I can see clearly with my own eyes.
Commenting by HaloScan
