Lawsuit: if you're against discrimination, you're a bigot
ThinkProgress
Lawsuit Claims That People Who Want LGBT Americans Treated Equally Are The Real Bigots
BY IAN MILLHISER JUL 27, 2015 8:00AM
Open advocacy of discrimination is not popular in the United States, and advocates who claim that the right to discriminate is an essential part of “religious liberty” are unlikely to win over the nation if most voters believe that these advocates are seeking such a right. Just look at what happened in Indiana, where the backlash against a sweeping “religious freedom” law forced one of the most conservative governors in the nation to sign an amendment to that law ensuring that it would not be used “to refuse to offer or provide services, facilities, use of public accommodation, goods, employment, or housing to any member or members of the general public” on the basis of a list of protected traits that includes “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
A lawsuit filed earlier this month in a federal court in Indiana, however, seeks to turn this dilemma for the religious right on its head. In essence, the plaintiff in this suit claims, people who believe that LGBT Americans are entitled to the same government benefits as straight Americans are the Real Bigots. The complaint filed in this case claims that a government official who insisted that all of her employees comply with the Constitution is, herself, guilt of discrimination. And the plaintiff, who was denied the right to refuse to serve same-sex couples, is cast in the role of the oppressed minority.
Linda Summers was, until recently, a deputy clerk at the county clerk’s office in Harrison County, Indiana. Shortly after court decisions required the state to end marriage discrimination against same-sex couples, Summers’ boss sent an email to all of the office’s employees informing them that “it is our duty in the Clerk’s Office to process” marriage applications from these couples “[e]ven though it may be against your personal beliefs.” Yet, when a same-sex couple sought a marriage license from Summers last December, Summers refused to process their application.
Later the same day, Summers gave a written “Religious Accommodation Request” to her boss, claiming that she has “a sincerely held religious belief against same sex marriages,” and asking that a different employee of the Clerk’s Office be assigned to process applications from same-sex couples. Summers’ lawsuit claims that she has a legal right to such an accommodation, that she should not have been fired for refusing to afford same-sex couples their rights under the Constitution, and that she should receive back pay and punitive damages.
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http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/07/27/3684515/religious-rights-last-best-chance-create-legal-right-discriminate/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tptop3&elqTrack=true&elqTrackId=b87326cbae174415a169f3fa8add9f82&elqaid=26558&elqat=1
