Flowery Chic-Fil-A goodness

I usually don't get political on my blog but I feel this is not so much political as it is about my civil rights.  Civil rights is always important to mental health especially since it seems the people making the laws in this country seem to have some mental issues themselves.

A couple here in Washington was denied flowers from a local florists because they are gay.  Gay marriage IS LEGAL in the state of Washington.  What's illegal is discriminating against someone based on their sexual orientation.  She is discriminating because of her "relationship" with Jesus.  Well that's great but she should probably rethink being in the retail biz. 

Here is my response to people who think the florist has a right to discriminate against gays.

Link:  Florist Refuses Washington Gay Wedding Job Because Of Religion

Here is why your argument does not hold water.  First off, I’m a gay man.  I’m a veteran, as is my partner of 21 years.  I did not serve in a war zone so I could come home and have an American business owner deny me flowers for my wedding on the basis of her “relationship with Jesus.”

Besides drug prescriptions from your doctor, what business has a right to tell you how to use their product after you buy it?  Of course every product has a “recommended” use by the manufacturer and yet I’ve never been denied a Q-Tip because I like to stick them INSIDE my ear.  

If religion is going to be a marker for whom business owners decide to sell to then we need to start discriminating more frequently.  Jesus said nothing about gay marriage in the Bible.  I’m assuming her “relationship” with Jesus is a platonic one since they aren’t married.  Does this mean Jewish shop owners get to stop selling to Christians and vice versa?  Why not? My Baptist parents raised me to believe that Jews are going to hell when they die.  My parents do not believe in Judaism based on their relationship with Jesus Christ.  Does that mean they get to start denying them products for sale?

Can a shop owner deny sale to a black person or a muslim?

Yes, the florist’s constitutional rights are guaranteed in our country.  She has a right to feel a certain way about gay marriage.  She has a right to want to discriminate based on a religious belief.  I suggest she get out of the retail business. All anyone has been talking about is this florist’s constitutional rights but you can use the exact same argument for the gay couple.  The problem is that since they are gay than their voices are automatically ignored. We still feel that religion gets to dictate the rights of human beings.  We have a constitution to protect the florist’s religious freedoms but it also protects life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of everybody.  For God’s sake we actually vote on whether or not human being get civil rights!! There’s no voting on rights in America!  We have two legitimate constitutional rights issues here.  However, one allows to discriminate and the other allows a life commitment.

These two guys could have just ordered flowers, not told the florists what they were for and she would have been none the wiser.  Crisis averted. But these men took it upon them selves to fight for my right to be able to order flowers at my wedding.  Sounds pretty stupid right?  Of course.  Why am I getting all worked up about flowers at my wedding?  That’s something your wife probably took care of.  It’s because you have never had to deal with stupid people and discriminating laws because you are a straight, white man.  Straight, white men are who make up these laws so they can keep their little life bubble stable.

 Yes, let’s let the free market decide what businesses stay open if they openly discriminate.  Makes sense.  If the florist down the road hates black people then maybe she will lose patrons and she will go out of business.  Great.  That is her right to feel that way.  We live in a country that is better than that.  We live in a country where everyone is equal under the LAW. If we can just go around denying different groups of people things that other people take for granted than we are no better than WWII era Nazi Germany. 

My solution? Business owners should just stop asking what the product you’re selling is going to be used for!  Simple.  It’s none of your damn business.  Stay out of my life and I’ll stay out of yours. 

So now I’m sure that hundreds of people are going to go to her floral shop and all buy tons of flowers on a certain day that will in no doubt be supported by Rush and Sean Hannity.  That’s awesome.  Since the florist is a woman they can call it Chic Flore’.™ How ever they want to spin it, it’s not about religious freedom.  It’s about equality and civil rights.  Oh and I’m sure politics fits in their somewhere.