We honored Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear as Badass of the Week for vetoing a bill on Friday that would have allowed individuals to ignore almost any state law that conflicted with their religious convictions.
But then the Kentucky Legislature went and made itself a nominee for Douche of the Week by overriding that veto on Tuesday.
House Bill 279 protects “sincerely held religious beliefs” from being infringed upon unless there is “a compelling governmental interest.” (Translation: Expect a lot of lawsuits.) The measure has clear implications for LGBT Kentuckians, who could be fired or evicted under the mask of religious freedom.
“I value and cherish our rights to religious freedom and I appreciate the good intentions of House Bill 279,” said Beshear when he vetoed the bill. “However, I have significant concerns that this bill will cause serious unintentional consequences that could threaten public safety, health care and individuals’ civil rights.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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Ya think?
hyhybt
I can think of very few worse ideas than “you only have to obey the law if you feel like it.” Why have laws at all, if one of them is that people can ignore whichever ones they don’t like?
Cam
If a clerk in the courthouse decides that it is against their religion to discriminate and so they give a gay couple a marriage license just watch how fast the state govt. will prevent them from exercising their religious freedom.
Dakotahgeo
Nothing amazes me (amuses, yes!) like the Neanderthal states, i.e. AZ, KY, et al, that pass these un-Constitutional laws. At least it keeps the lawyers busy and in business. This bill will see the Court Room many times before being repealed.
Billysees
@hyhybt: 1
Agreed.
The best thing to do is for everyone to respect everyone.
An ideal that’s easier said than done of course.
But it’s still a great idea for all to pursue being happy children without the ever constant enthusiasm by some to —
condemn
judge
sit in the seat of scorn and mockery
find fault
accuse others
and so on and so on….
Let’s hope that all children may be loved and respected.
Harley
So if a business is run but a grand dragon of the KKK, and serving all non-whites is against his religion, then it’s okay to discriminate. Hmmmmm. Sound logical to me. I shoulda been a lawyer in a southern state. Man, I would be raking in millions by now.
Billysees
@Harley: 5
“…..then it’s okay to discriminate.” —
No, because anti-discrimination laws “trump” religious freedoms, at least for racial reasons they do.
To obtain the same kinds of laws or protections for lgbt’s is gonna be more difficult.