Can You Imagine…

Going into a baker to order some cookies and you are told that the baker doesn’t want to sell to you?

Well that happened to some college students in Indianapolis when they wanted to order some cookies for the “National Coming Out Day”. According to WXIN Fox 59 News…

A campus organization said it was denied service in what's become a flashpoint in the fight for equal rights.

This is what they were after: a mulitcolored cupcake to celebrate "National Coming Out Day" next month; a rainbow confection to honor the diversity on the campus of IUPUI. But the student who had the order placed at Just Cookies was told no.

The bakery owner said in his defense…

"I explained we're a family-run business, we have two young, impressionable daughters and we thought maybe it was best not to do that," said co-owner David Stockton.

There has been a lot of discussion about a person’s religious right to refuse a customer if it goes against their religious beliefs, such as gay, lesbians, bi’s or trans-people. I feel that when you open a business to the public, you have an obligation to serve all the public, not just those you choose to serve.

If your religious beliefs are that no man should serve a woman, do you have a right to refuse service to a woman? Or if you feel that you do not want to hire people of a certain religious faiths, can you refuse to hire people of other faiths? Do you have the right not to rent an apartment to a black couple if it goes against your religious beliefs? Then why is it that a person has the right to refuse to serve a lesbian or gay or bisexual or trans person because if their religious beliefs? You have the right to limit your business to your religious community, but once you open your business to the public, you must obey the anti-discrimination law. A private golf course can limit their membership, but once they go public they must serve all of the public. A church has the right to rent the hall to only people who share their religious beliefs, but once they place an ad to rent the hall out to the public, they must rent it to all of the public, not just those whom they chose.