re: #222 FemNaziBitch

One of the memes about businesses being able to discriminate against gays is that kosher butchers aren’t being forced to carry pork products. Seen that on twitter more than once and it bothers me to no end.

That’s disingenuous at best - and it’s a flawed analogy.

On the one hand, you have patrons to a kosher butcher under no expectation to carry non-kosher products. You’re going to a kosher butcher to get kosher products. Asking for a non-kosher product will get a raised eyebrow and suggestion to go elsewhere. It’s not discrimination against someone seeking a nonkosher product.

It’s an acknowledgement that stores can pick and choose the products they carry. [this doesn’t apply to pharmacies, where the rules on what can be carried is subject to state/federal laws]

That differs from a store that sells baked goods and cakes, but then chooses not to sell them to a person based on - pick any: color of skin, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, etc. That’s discriminatory.

If you’re in a state like New Mexico, you don’t have the right to discriminate if you’re selling a product to others (that’s according to the state’s constitution/laws). Other states have caselaw to indicate that a business doesn’t have a right to discriminate in this fashion.

The gay couple going to a bakery to get a cake isn’t asking for something that the bakery doesn’t do. It’s a staple product. They bake cakes. They just don’t want to bake it for a gay couple. And that’s discriminatory.