Not every "protected" minority group is a result of birth. Religion is a very personal decision -- no one is born a Christian, etc. Yet we don't discriminate against people of minority religions, nor do we consider them to have special rights.A Buddhist may not be going to heaven, yet we don't kick them out of the party for their moral choices.
Blacks and other minorities don't have protected because they were "born" that way. They have protected status because they were systematically discriminated against because they were "born" that way.
And, as a libertarian, I'm not sure what is so "special" about the rights that gays want? To not be fired from their jobs?
Should a landlord be forced by law to rent to a homosexual couple if he doesn’t wish to?
Puroresu’s point is this: legislating against discrimination is in tension with freedom of association. Government tells you who you must deal with and on what terms. We had a historic legacy of slavery and discrimination against blacks and abrogated the 1st Amendment and common law freedom of association to overcome that historic wrong. Now that we have stepped out on the slippery slope of violating individual rights to make up for social or historical wrongs, other claimants step up to recieve their “right” to force others to deal with them.
Blacks and other minorities don't have protected because they were "born" that way. They have protected status because they were systematically discriminated against because they were "born" that way.
Valid points of contention. I'd submit that yes, that blacks were systematically discriminated against, however, the reason that they were discriminated against was for the color of their skin, which they cannot help. They were born with it. It wasn't a matter of behavior for which they were condemned, lest we consider "Breathing while black" an offense (which is pretty much what some people did do...)
And as for Christianity, I may be biased, but Christianity ascends beyond behavior into what I would call a cultural and societal construct. Christian values are the foundation upon which Western Civilization is built, Christian values are the distinguishing trait that separates American culture from the savagery of the rest of the planet.
I can hardly consider homosexuality in the same neighborhood. It's not worth the debate.
At any rate, as far as gays being fired from their jobs? That's just wrong. However, there is a legal grounds for dismissal of homosexuals. Homosexuality is a behavior, and can only be defined and distinguished by homosexual sex.
Well, how does one distinguish themselves as a homosexual at work then? See where this is going? They have to advertise it, most likely in a manner that makes it uncomfortable to just about anyone who isn't interested in someone else's sex life. When you are impressing your sexual behavior upon someone else in the work place, it is sexual harassment. This is the unspoken truth that isn't brought up when you hear about these cases. It isn't discrimination, it's the fact that they put someone else in an uncomfortable situation sexually.
Think it doesn't happen? Look at that SF Fireman who's suing now for being forced to march in a parade against his will. That's just one scenario. I'm sure thousands of other cases go unpunished because the victim is afraid of being labeled with some silly @ssed name like "homophobe" which is intended to divert people paying attention from the real crime.
At any rate, as I said, we accept gays as fellow men or women, not as gays. That's just silly...I don't play at that level and never will.