Arizona’s Orwellian “Religious Freedom Restoration Law” was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer. Brendan Eich, ex-Mozilla CEO, was forced to resign after the brouhaha over his $1,000 donation to an anti-gay marriage movement. Recent court decisions have repeatedly struck down states’ anti-gay law measures. So what is a poor bigot to do? Answer: Accuse the object of his bigotry of being a bigot. Better yet, accuse him of being part of a cabal with an agenda to force his views on the mainstream.
Brendan Eich. This man is not a victim.
Eich has become a rallying point for anti-gay rights activists. They claim that the outcry against Eich was nothing more than reverse bigotry. Further, this punishment of free-speech strikes at the very soul of the Republic. The argument is superficially good enough that even some in the gay-rights crowd, notably Andrew Sullivan, subscribe to it. But while the Eich affair may possibly be bad PR for gay-rights activists, it is not bigotry. And it is, most definitely, legitimate debate.
In many states, you can be fired for being gay. So to whine about being hounded for anti-gay speech is thin gruel.
Conservatives defend their support for religious freedom laws by claiming that the market-place will force bad actors out of business. Surely then, the same market forces will punish Mozilla for its shabby treatment of Eich. If the market is sauce for the goose, let it be sauce for the gander.
The Bible. By all means use it to direct your life. But it is not a US law book.
Gay marriage, despite the ululations of “traditionalists” is not a threat to straight marriage. In the 10 years since Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, not one straight marriage has been harmed. And that is the nub of it. Everyone is entitled to be bound by their religious mandates, but no one is entitled to demand that others live by them – especially in the complete absence of any evidence of harm.
Eich called for a section of the population to be denied the rights he enjoys – and that is bigotry. On the other hand, to demand the rights for yourself that others enjoy is only fair play.
It will seem strange to the millennials that their parents and grandparents grew up in a world where there were still laws against interracial marriage and a husband could not be charged with raping his wife – a world in which contraception could still be criminalized.
As recently as the early 1960s minorities could still suffer legal discrimination.
And less than a century ago women were not guaranteed the right to vote.
Progress is messy. And the road to marriage equality will have some bumps. It is hard to summon up much sympathy for a man who loses his job, because he pays to deny his fellow citizens the rights he enjoys.
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