Gay Segregation Bill Introduced in Tennessee

While the extreme gay segregation bill in Kansas may have hit a road block in the Kansas Senate, a more watered down version of that bill has been introduced in Tennessee which, like the Kansas bill, would grant Christofascist exemption from the non-discrimination laws binding on everyone else.  It's safe to expect to see similar bills in other red states where Christofascist comprise a dominant element of the GOP base.  All of the bills make a mockery of the concept of religious freedom guaranteed to all Americans under the U.S. Constitution and would allow Christofascist to discriminate against gays who do not hold their religious beliefs.  The bills are clearly unconstitutional - not that that ever stops Republican elected officials from pandering to the Christofascists or ignoring the U.S. Constitution that they swore to uphold.  Here are highlights on the bill from The Raw Story:

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are sponsoring a bill to make it legal for businesses to discriminate against LGBT people on the grounds of “sincerely held religious beliefs.” According to the Tennesseean newspaper, the Republicans are attempting to strike preemptively against court decisions recognizing same-sex marriages by enshrining a so-called “Turn Away the Gays” bill into law.

The state Senate panel will meet next week to debate the measure, which would allow businesses to turn away same-sex couples even if the state’s current laws against same-sex marriage are struck down. Lawmakers say they are protecting the rights of Christian wedding vendors, bakeries, florists and other wedding professionals.

“We want to make sure we protect the conscience and religious freedom of businesses,” said state Sen. Mike Bell (R), who sponsored the bill.

Senate Bill 2566 was originally sponsored by Memphis state Sen. Brian Kelsey (R), but when the measure began to attract national attention, he withdrew his name, fearing controversy.

“I’ve heard many mixed reviews from the constituents regarding protecting religious freedoms in this state, so I’ve decided not to sponsor the legislation,” Sen. Kelsey told Nashville’s FOX13 News.

Conservatives are peddling these types of bills in a number of states where wedding professionals have been sued for refusing to provide services to same-sex weddings. The anti-LGBT businesses insist that practicing their company policies equally and fairly for all people across the board is a greater strain on their faith than they should be asked to bear.

Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project said to the Tennessean that the Republican legislation is wrong-headed and “sends the wrong message about Tennessee.”  He pointed out that refusing to serve LGBT customers is the same as discriminating on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion.

It ought to be clear by now that any delusions that Christofascists are nice or decent people need to end.  They are no better that the segregationist from the 1950's and 1960's and they need to be treated as such.  They may be free to believe what they want, but that does not mean that they need to be accepted in decent society.