That principle was conceded when society accepted forcing white people to do business with black people.
Good point and I thought about it as soon as I wrote it.
I remember the bad old days and the practices of those times disgusted me then and do to this day. I remember cafes who would do take-out orders for black people but they weren't allowed to come in and sit down, for example.
I obviously don't see this in the same light because I don't see homosexuality and race as in any way equivalent.
You are not allowed to refuse service to someone because of their race but you can refuse if someone is a jerk, for example.
So I don't see a legal equivalence. But good luck I suppose finding a court that will agree with me.
I agree with you that racial discrimination was wrong, marron. However, once the principle was established, of compelling private citizens to serve others because not doing so was wrong, you get what we have now. Legislatures and courts are ruling that “gay” is an identity category, like race or physical handicap, and not a behavior category, like being drunk-and-disorderly.
From the standpoint of Christian morality, the situation is not at all black and white. Yes, it’s clear that homosexual behavior is wrong. However, as someone pointed out above, a lot of things are wrong. Suppose an unmarried couple wanted to order a cake or rent a facility to hold a baby shower. Is a Christian business person morally required to deny them because they are in an immoral relationship?
I think it should be individual choice on the part of business owners.