Why a Gay Man Like Me Is Going to Make It Hard for Indiana Shopkeepers to Exercise Their ‘Religious Liberty’
Maybe Indiana could add a rider to the bill declaring that all gays must wear rainbow stars. Of course if that happened everyone who was anyone in Indiana would want to wear one… See John Moyers thoughts on the Indiana devolution below.
Take sexual identity. If every LGBT person out there were a flamboyant drag queen, it might be easier for a merchant to decide who to refuse. But some gay people, like me, are just average white guys — I don’t swish, lisp or call everyone “honey,” and if there’s a song on my lips, it’s more likely Jerry Garcia than Judy Garland.
What’s a God-fearing Indiana merchant to do if I walk in the door? Am I responsible for his damnation if I let him serve me without mentioning that I’m gay and he doesn’t guess it? Must he ask all customers about potential offenses to his faith?
Complicating things is the fact that some straight men are a bit effete and some straight women are kind of butch. Just because God made them like that doesn’t mean their dry cleaning should get turned away.
So, perhaps Indiana now needs a law requiring I.D. cards for all citizens — yellow for the hets, pink for the homos — to protect both the souls and the profits of faithful, freedom-loving Chamber of Commerce members. Or maybe gays should be required to tattoo their foreheads for quick identification. If so, the same should go for straight people who practice oral and anal sex, since what offends some religious beliefs is “sodomy” defined more broadly, not merely loving someone of the same gender.