Tag Archives: public accommodations

Back in August, we all watched into the wee hours of the morning as the Fayetteville City Council endured ten hours of vicious and ugly public comments before approving its LGBT rights ordinance by a 6-2 vote. Anti-gay groups and local churches immediately launched a petition campaign to put the issue to public vote, which is happening today. Last month …

A bill that would make it legal to discriminate against LGBT citizens might be resurrected in the Kansas legislature.  Some religious leaders in Kansas are asking lawmakers to bring back House Bill 2453 this legislative session. Also known as the “religious freedom bill”, HB 2453 says it protects businesses, clergy and some government workers from having to provide services for …

Via Equality Florida: Earlier today, Representative Holly Raschein (R- Key Largo) and Democratic Whip Senator Joseph Abruzzo (D- Boynton Beach) filed legislation in the Florida House and Senate respectively that would prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in employment, housing and public accommodations. Known as the Florida Competitive Workforce Act (FCWA), the legislation would amend Chapter …

Britain’s Coalition For Marriage (C4M) is continuing their battle for a “conscience clause” which would allow Christian-owned businesses to refuse to serve gay people. You might recall that during Britain’s campaign for marriage equality, C4M posted dozens of anti-gay clips in the style of the infamous Minnesota Marriage Minute series, in which a dour-faced woman contended that civilization would come …

“If you run a public accommodation and use it to refuse service to a minority, you’re on the wrong side of the law (at least since the Civil Rights Movement). So why am I concerned by the latest case of a lesbian couple suing a family business that refused to rent out their property for a same-sex wedding? Simply because …

GOP Texas state Sen. Donna Campbell has introduced a bill that would legalize anti-gay discrimination on the basis of “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Via Lone Star Q: Campbell introduced a nearly identical measure two years ago, but it died in committee. The 2013 measure was supported by the anti-LGBT group Texas Values and opposed by Equality Texas. Texas already has …

(Tipped by JMG reader Str8 Grandmother)

A coalition of anti-gay pastors rallied on the steps of Michigan’s capitol building on Friday to declare that they will go to jail before obeying the proposed inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in state anti-discrimination laws. From a press release published by Christian Newswire: “We, the undersigned Christian Pastors of the State of Michigan declare our opposition to …

Via Boise’s NPR station: The city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, said a for-profit wedding chapel owned by two ministers doesn’t have to perform same-sex marriages. Initially, the city said its anti-discrimination law did apply to the Hitching Post, since it is a commercial business. Earlier this week, Coeur d’Alene city attorney Mike Gridley sent a letter to the Knapps’ attorneys …

Tony Perkins, Todd Starnes, Mike Huckabee, Phil Robertson, Rick Scarborough, the Benham brothers, and a clown car cavalcade of other crackpots will rally in Houston on Sunday, November 2nd to denounce “sermon-grabbing homofascist” Mayor Annise Parker. Sponsoring the event, which will be live-streamed to churches nationwide, are the Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom, Liberty Counsel, Texas Values, Iowa’s Family …

In an attempt to swat away reports that Alliance Defending Freedom and its allies have consistently lied about the Hitching Post situation in the tiny Idaho town of Coeur d’Alene, the ADF has posted a response to the letter sent them on Monday by the town’s attorney. First, an excerpt from the town’s letter: And here is how the ADF …

“I was not aware in advance that this event was a fundraiser and had I known, I would not have agreed to participate. I was invited by an events organizing group, not by ADF directly. I understood this to be a public conversation about religious liberty. This is my fault for not doing my due diligence, and I will be …

Via Right Wing Watch: These people are terrorists, they’re radicals and they’re extremists. No Christian in his right mind would ever try to enforce somebody against their belief or else suffer jail. They did that during the Inquisition, it was horrible, it was a black mark on our history, but it isn’t being done now. There’s no Christian group I …

As we learned yesterday, claims about Idaho’s Hitching Post wedding venue are a total lie. But that hasn’t stopped the avalanche of screeching out of Teabagistan – if anything, they’ve gotten louder.

From the American Family Association: TAKE ACTION: Once again, homosexual bullies have targeted Christian-owned businesses in their attempt to silence all opposition to their sinful lifestyle. Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer is the chief executive officer for the city. We have prepared an email you can send to Mayor Widmyer. Or, you can call Mayor Widmyer or post a comment …

JMG reader Baltimatt points us to this: City officials in Coeur d’Alene say they have not received any formal complaints that the Hitching Post wedding chapel has violated the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance by refusing to solemnize same-sex marriages. A lawsuit filed in federal court Friday on behalf of Don and Lynn Knapp, ordained ministers and owners of the Hitching Post, …

“If homosexuals get their way, Pastor Donald Knapp won’t be behind the pulpit — he’ll be behind bars. That’s the stunning development in Idaho, where the day liberals promised would never come is already here. Two ministers — a husband and wife team — have been told by their city government that refusing to ‘marry’ a same-sex couple will send …

Robertson adds that the wedding venue owners in Idaho should “get on a plane” and get out of the state. It bears repeating that one can become an ordained minister online for about $20 and the owners of Idaho’s Hitching Post only became ordained because the local position of justice of the peace had been abolished.

Remember the Idaho wedding chapel that said it would close before it would ever serve gay couples? Now that same-sex marriage is legal in that state, the owners have changed their minds and decided to sue the town of Coeur d’Alene in order to again make it legal to discriminate against LGBT Americans. The owners are being represented by the …

Via the Las Vegas CBS affiliate: After making calls to about 15 wedding chapels, 8 News NOW found that several of them refused to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. The Elvis Wedding Chapel, which welcomes traditional and Elvis-themed weddings, said they wouldn’t marry same-sex couples. However, when the 8 News Now cameras were rolling as we tried to get …